Emailerism: soon to be the new birtherism, to delegitimize the Hillary Clinton presidency

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday October 20, 2016 · 11:44 AM PDT

2016/10/20 · 11:44

“Lock her up!” Don’t think you have heard the last of this. Trump last night:

I’ll tell you one other thing: she shouldn’t be allowed to run. She’s guilty of a very, very serious crime. She should not be allowed to run. And just in that respect, I say it’s rigged, because she should never have been allowed to run for the presidency based on what she did with e-mails and so many other things.

This is an obvious “birthing” of a new version of “birtherism.” His sizable cult of low-information, not very Breit-bots (perhaps as many as 50% of the patchwork GOP) has this concept in their teeth, and they aren’t going to let go. Whatever the situation in the Congress, the ‘Republicans” or whatever they call their collection of crazies, will dog-whistle this at every opportunity. Some of them act aghast at Trump’s antics:

Conservative Joel Pollack, has stated that the reason the "Birther theory" has caught on particularly among conservatives, is the weakness of the Republican opposition, stating: “In the absence of strong Republican leadership, some find the Birther theory a compelling, if desperate, solution. Yet it is ultimately a self-destructive one – not just because it is almost certainly false, but because it contradicts the essential spirit of the conservative movement.”

But, out of weakness, they will adopt this tactic immediately. More hearings, talk of impeachment, even bills of impeachment will be offered on a regular basis. Do you really think Mitch McConnell won’t try to use this if he still runs the Senate? Trump himself, who got into the birtherism game when he got serious about running for president, will have some sort of huge megaphone. At the very least, he will have a prominent seat at Not Very Breit, and possibly a white trash cable TV show, featuring the likes of Glenn Beck, Ted Nugent, Rush Limbaugh, and Gennifer Flowers.

ThinkProgress has a piece on this subject, laying out the historical background of delegitimizing women’s rights to participate in the political process.

Let’s not kid ourselves; America is in the swamp and it will take time to get out of it.

WaPo reports Trump retweets Clinton rape story

seesdifferent

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday October 08, 2016 · 10:07 PM PDT

2016/10/08 · 22:07

Screen_Shot_2016-10-08_at_9.51.52_PM.png — Trump retweets Broaddrick's tweets.

In the face of even more revelations of Trump’s predatory nature, Aaron Blake at the Washington Post reports that the PussyGrabber has resumed his old ways Saturday night, retweeting two tweets from Juanita Broaddrick, who claims that Bill Clinton raped her and HRC threatened her.

Trump, facing a GOP exodus from his campaign and apparently desperate to change the subject, just retweeted two tweets from an account featuring the name of Juanita Broaddrick, the woman who publicly alleged in 1999 that Clinton had sexually assaulted her two decades prior.

In both tweets, the Broaddrick account reiterates her accusation that Clinton raped her and accuses Hillary Clinton of enabling him.

...he's clearly not reevaluating himself or his approach. He's quadrupling down.

Trump clearly doesn't view the rest of this campaign as an attempt to salvage his good name or to quietly fade away; he views it as a war in which he's not going to unilaterally disarm when it comes to Bill Clinton.

The man is nothing if not consistent. I’d say this pretty much rules out the idea that he is likely to withdraw from the race. And it seems likely there will be some fireworks at the debate tomorrow night.

A current diary gives some background on the old Bill Clinton stories, comparing those days with what the country is now faced with.

Junior Dionne gets up his courage, writes something of substance about Trump. Ouch.

seesdifferent

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday October 04, 2016 · 4:29 PM PDT

2016/10/04 · 16:29

This story is now old, but I haven’t seen it mentioned here. WaPo columnist EJ Dionne Jr. must have had something extra in his coffee, as he finally decided that Donald J. Trump is actually a weirdo and possibly nuts, and shouldn’t be eligible for concealed weapon permit, let alone a nuclear code.

Donald J. Trump has now driven home, in a way no apologist, enabler or timid analyst [?EJDjr?] can plausibly deny, that he is far too nasty, immature and frighteningly undisciplined to be president.

EJDjr actually gets close the madness idea:

Trump all along has been a clinically self-involved con man who never took the issues, the presidency or the future of our country seriously. Can there be any doubt that his campaign is a branding exercise gone, quite literally, mad?

clinically???!!

He cites “paranoia”:

The first, interestingly, was an expression of pure paranoia about his own campaign. “Anytime you see a story about me or my campaign saying ‘sources said,’ DO NOT believe it. There are no sources, they are just made up lies!”

and

The most remarkable was: “Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?”

Parsing that one would require a phalanx of psychologists. ….

And notice the paranoia-laced innuendo. ….

When EJDjr gets up on his hind legs….well, gee, I don’t know, because I’ve never seen it before. I remember he once got upset because his latte wasn’t hot enough. So, this may be uncharted territory.

Has The Donald responded yet? I’d imagine Trump would see him as an easy target.

Indiana parade float shows Trump executing Clinton

seesdifferent

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday October 03, 2016 · 9:13 PM PDT

2016/10/03 · 21:13

Just having some laughs, these ole country boys...did a black-face Obama, just for some more laughs. Good clean fun, right?

YouTube Video

America the Beautiful.

Wall St. Journal Op-Ed calls Trump unstable, uninformed and unfit

seesdifferent

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday September 30, 2016 · 7:53 AM PDT

2016/09/30 · 07:53

The piece is entitled Hillary-Hatred Derangement Syndrome. It’s not exactly an editorial, but the author, Dorothy Rabinowitz, is a member of the Journal’s editorial board. A Pulitzer Prize winner, she was a fan of John McCain, and also covered one of the early Bill Clinton scandals.

After cataloging a number of Trump’s more outlandish statements and behaviors, notably his feud with Rosie O’Donnell, and his bromance with Putin, she lays the wood to his blind followers.

She describes Sec. Clinton rather archly as the “educated former Secretary of State, with lengthy experience in government.” Not to say she is totally in the Clinton camp: she refers to “scandals” though we don’t know what she means with that, apparently the nothingness of emails, Bengazi and Foundation. Plus, Rabinowitz was either offended or bored by some comments made by Clinton regarding killing of some of our unarmed darker skinned citizens by police.

She ends the piece with the typical Republican slither: She slams Trump in the most forceful terms, gives Clinton faint praise, but won’t endorse Hillary, or say that she is voting for her.

It will be either Mr. Trump or Mrs. Clinton—experienced, forward-looking, indomitably determined, and eminently sane. Her election alone is what stands between the American nation and the reign of the most unstable, proudly uninformed, psychologically unfit president ever to enter the White House.

"Healther" Dr. Drew canned by CNN

seesdifferent

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday August 26, 2016 · 11:33 AM PDT

2016/08/26 · 11:33

In what might be a sign that the media are wise to and tired of “truthers”, CNN has canned Dr. Drew a week after he did his “healther” spew regarding the health of Hillary Clinton:

On a radio show this week, Dr. Drew Pinsky of Celebrity Rehab fame added his name to the long list of conspiracy theorists who believe that Hillary Clinton’s health could be failing—a list that so far includes the National Enquirer, Fox News host Sean Hannity, InfoWars writer Paul Joseph Watson, Dr. Jane Orient, Donald Trump, and seemingly anyone on the “alt-right” with a Twitter account.

If that’s not a dream team of medical experts, what is?

In a Tuesday interview on KABC’s McIntyre in the Morning, Dr. Pinsky said that he and Biggest Loser physician Dr. Robert Huizenga,... had “dispassionately sat and evaluated the medical record that [Clinton] had released.”

CNN has canceled Drew Pinsky’s HLN show, Dr. Drew On Call, just eight days after Pinsky made comments on a radio show questioning the health of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Pinsky’s show, which is six years old, will air for the last time Sept. 22. Mirroring concerns voiced by Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani, Pinsky said on a program aired Aug. 17 that he was “gravely concerned not just about her health, but her health care.” A July 2015 letter from Dr. Lisa Bardack—who has treated Clinton—concluded that she “is in excellent physical condition and fit to serve as president of the United States.” But Pinsky’s reading of the Bardack letter disagreed with that asssessment, and he shared his own on the radio show. CNN Executive Vice President Ken Jautz said in a statement that he and Pinsky “mutually agreed” on the cancellation, but Jautz gave no reason for it. In January, Pinsky previously incorrectly reported, based on a “strong source,” that Clinton had a “flareup of problems from” a “brain injury.” In reality, the former secretary of State had only actually visited a restroom.

Q: What do you call firing a dozen media truthers?

A: a start.

Should Mylan be boycotted?

seesdifferent

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday August 25, 2016 · 4:21 PM PDT

2016/08/25 · 16:21

Mylan and its CEO Heather Bresch are making worse than a mockery out of business and pharma ethics, not to mention putting lives at risk. The development of the EpiPen was supported 100% by the gov. They lobbied to have laws passed requiring schools to buy EpiPens. Brilliant. That lobbyist became CEO in spite of not having the degree she claimed. She is now making a healthy 8 figure income after hiking the price every other other quarter, now at $600. And the med expires in 12-18 months, requiring another purchase. To add injury to injury, they moved their HQ out of the country to dodge taxes. The company is already in damage control mode, though the response is token.

Much of Mylan’s business is in generic drugs e.g. penicillin. Almost every generic drug is made by more than one company, I believe. Therefore, it should be simple for consumers to insist on non-Mylan generic drugs. Take a look. www.mylan.com/…

As far as their non-generics (“proprietary”), there are very few drugs that are truly original and important in their own right...most proprietary drugs are just minor variations on the original patented drug. So most non-generics are also susceptible to consumer boycott.

Physicians of conscience would gladly join such a boycott. Realistically, the sales of most of their products could be cut in half. No company can tolerate that.

Heather Bresch should resign. The Epipen should be selling for under a hundred bucks. Consumers and doctors could make these things happen.

Clinton picks Kaine for VP

seesdifferent

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday July 22, 2016 · 5:12 PM PDT

2016/07/22 · 17:12

The announcement was just aired and Sec. Clinton has chosen Sen. Tim Kaine of VA as her running mate. Unfortunately, he is a defensive choice, apparently chosen to help Clinton with the battleground state of Virginia. Kaine advocates for free trade treaties, and will be a punching bag for Trump, rather than an offensive threat who can slam the Orange-utan. Hopefully the discouraging effect he will have on the very large contingent of Bernie Sanders backers, who are crucial to Clinton’s electoral chances, can be minimized by Bernie, himself.

Liberals say they are concerned about Mr. Kaine’s positions on global trade deals and Wall Street regulation. He has been an outspoken advocate of free trade and has defended the North American Free Trade Agreement, which many voters in Rust Belt states blame for the loss of manufacturing jobs to Mexico. He voted in support of “fast track” authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade pact that President Obama has championed.

On the very very plus side, this move does not change the chances of re-taking the Senate, as the Democratic governor can appoint a Democratic replacement.

….people have mentioned the following possibilities: Former Rep. Tom Perriello, Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Rep. Don Beyer, Rep. Bobby Scott, former Delegate (and current Virginia Secretary of Public Safety) Brian Moran. Since we’ve got the other two Democratic Congressmen, might as well throw in Rep. Gerry Connolly as well. Who else? How about 2009 LG candidate Jody Wagner? 2009 AG candidate Steve Shannon? Virginia Secretary of Education Anne Holton (married to Tim Kaine; daughter of former Virginia Gov. Linwood Holton)? Former U.S. Chief Technology Officer and 2013 LG candidate Aneesh Chopra? Others?

We hope that Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other effective speakers can provide the “offense” needed to discredit El Douchey.

Clinton leads by double digits, says new Ipsos poll

seesdifferent

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday July 05, 2016 · 6:25 PM PDT

2016/07/05 · 18:25

The new Reuters/Ipsos poll over the weekend says The Don-key is digging a bigger hole for himself. 13 points behind Clinton!

The July 1-5 poll included responses gathered mostly over the holiday weekend, before the Federal Bureau of Investigation recommended on Tuesday that no criminal charges be filed against Clinton over her use of private email servers and what it called her “extremely careless” handling of classified information while she was U.S. secretary of state.

I doubt he gets much of a bump from the FBI findings. One can argue it might be the opposite. He/his staff pretty much wasted any positive effects by posting a Star of David over an image of Clinton and a background of much moolah.

The online national poll of 1,441 American adults had a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 3 percentage points.

This poll shows a significant surge for Clinton. As for The Don-key, his show might have be moved to Monday night after Seinfeld.

The presumptive Democratic nominee led Trump, a New York businessman, by 9 percentage points in a previous Reuters/Ipsos poll that ran from June 27 to July 1.

I don’t see The Don-key doing well, personally, when his poll numbers are stumbling down the basement stairs. It’s just not the way he thinks of himself. I continue to think he will revert to form and bail when the going gets tough. He’s a grifter. “Cheese it, it’s the cops!” I have a suspicion that he will pull a Willy Sutton, one way or another. He could force the GOP’s hand by selecting some total screwball for VP….Sarah, David Duke…….

Mitt: “OoooKayy Trump, what’s it gonna take?

Donald: “I have to be made whole plus $75,000,000.’

Mitt: ok for that much you have to sign an NDA and you also have to claim a serious personal/family crisis/illness. And you have to make at least 4 campaign appearances for the replacement nominee.

Donald: 3 appearances; and if he wins, I get a pardon for everything I’ve ever done, a job in the administration, and two jobs for my kids.

Mitt: 3 appearances and a full throated endorsement. No jobs for the kids. And the pardon doesn’t include civil actions or tax evasion.

Donald: Can’t do it without IRS protection.

Mitt: if we win.

Donald: but I need some help if we lose...I can donate to Hillary?

Mitt: Not directly, not traceable. Meet with her on an airplane.

Donald: Done.

Trump and ISIS: He's their candidate

seesdifferent

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday June 30, 2016 · 8:04 AM PDT

2016/06/30 · 08:04

The Don-key should reach out to ISIS for campaign donations. They loves them some Trump.

This is what Obama, HRC and others have been saying right along.

He is becoming ISIS’s best recruiter. They are going out people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists.”---Hillary Clinton

This piece by Tierney Sneed and Lauren Fox at TPM is the first I’ve seen to lay out what ISIS adherents are saying.

Mara Revkin, a PhD student at Yale who has studied ISIS governance, told TPM that in her interviews with both current Islamic State supporters and defectors, Trump is viewed as the ultimate enemy, someone who may push the U.S. into a ground war in the Middle East.

It isn’t just the “ground war” issue, however:

Revkin–who has traveled a total of five times to Turkey and Iraq this year for her research– said that one Syrian Islamic State defector told her in Turkey that ISIS uses Trump in their propaganda because he is the “perfect enemy.” Revkin added that the Arabic might translate more directly as "excellent enemy."

"His anti-immigrant, anti-refugee, and anti-Muslim rhetoric totally validates ISIS claims that Muslims are unwelcome in Europe and the U.S., and that they would be better off living in its so-called caliphate," she said. “ISIS exploits these inflammatory statements to mobilize its supporters around the idea that the West—and America in particular—is hostile to Islam."

Ex-CIA director Michael Hayden points out that

“some of the language that Mr. Trump used after the attack — some things were bad, don’t get me wrong, that were in effect a tactical success for our enemy. But in the language he has used to describe them, he has elevated them to this realm that they can claim strategic success.”

I know that this “one degree of nuance” escapes many if not most of Trump’s supporters. But hopefully the mainstream media can begin to report this, if only because Dems/HRC will raise it forcefully.

Trump delegate sues for "conscientious objector" relief

seesdifferent

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday June 24, 2016 · 7:29 PM PDT

2016/06/24 · 19:29

Some rube publicans are deciding they don’t wanna be pirates. One has filed suit to gain the freedom to vote his “conscience” (wut?) at the GOP conflagration oops I mean convention.

In other news, Orville Redenbacher stock again reached new highs.

A certain

CARROLL BOSTON CORRELL, JR., on behalf of himself and others similarly situated,

Plaintiff,

has filed this action in Virginia, undoubtedly having found a judge of Mexican, Muslim, gay, or female descent, thus guaranteeing yet another outpouring of whining from the Don-key.

The aforementioned pleads:

if he does not vote for Trump, he faces criminal penalties, including fines and imprisonment. That is a clear violation of Correll’s and other delegates’ speech and associational rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Indeed, the Supreme Court has rejected numerous state laws regulating party affairs, including one that similarly bound convention delegates, on precisely that basis. Correll therefore moves this Court, on behalf of himself and a putative class consisting of all other Virginia delegates to national party conventions, for relief from this unconstitutional enactment.

A North Carolina delegate has said that she faces criminal sanctions, as well:

A North Carolina delegate said the delegates in her state "are very much under direct threat from our state with a $10,000 fine," adding that she had been "threatened" by the state GOP "vice-president" over Facebook and asked about the possibility of a legal fund being established to defend them.

All of which substantiates the Golden oops I mean Orange Boy was correct when he said a revolt would be to some degree, at least, illegal. Estimates of the number of potential rebel delegates have ranged from a low of 12 to a high of 1000 (!).

My guess is that Donald’s “mexican” epithet against the San Diego judge isn’t going to help his case. The odd thing, for me, is that states are in the business of passing criminal statutes regarding the procedures of a private club. But one could argue, I suppose, that the state sponsors the primaries, so they have an interest in the outcome. I think there is some basis for the courts to invalidate the laws, but I very much doubt that they will. Of course, I am rooting for the maximum strife in Cleveland, so I hope this lawsuit gets snuffed.

Trump deposed in suit vs TV's "Chopped" Chef

seesdifferent

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday June 16, 2016 · 3:28 PM PDT

2016/06/16 · 15:28

The Donald claims his businesses are going south because two famous chefs pulled out of a deal, because of Trump’s remarks about Mexicans. One of the chefs is Geoffrey Zakarian, famous for his role on cable TV’s “Chopped” program, “Top Chef”, and other cooking shows. After bringing the suit, Trump had claimed he shouldn’t have to testify because he was busy running for president. Not so fast, said the judge; you started it…..So Trump had to sit down and tell his story this a.m. before flying to Dallas for some sort of jerk-fest.

Zakarian has counter-sued largely because of some sort of confiscation of monies by the Trump group.

Ironically, “Chopped” uses the expression “chopped” to essentially say “You’re fired!” to losing contestants.

Zakarian’s defense is that Trump’s remarks have materially impaired the value of the lease, as those offended by Trump’s remarks will not patronize his restaurant, not to mention the ability to hire those of non-white race. I think he should also have stated that the number of a-hole customers would also affect his business. I expect that Trump will charge that Zakarian is a suspect foreigner, as is Judge DiToro (and a woman, to boot).

Zakarian is an incredibly likable sort of person, has an air of confidence and credibility, and quite experienced in public appearances on the Food Network. Whereas The Donald’s persona is that of an oafish bore on the Fool Network. I think the Donald is “messing with “the wrong Marine” , when it comes to picking someone who will testify in court. (a legal-related posts require a reference to “A Few Good Men”).

Newer
Older

RSS