User-Supported News Commentary Hosted by Craig Crawford
Remembering
As we hear Barack Obama is set to campaign for Hillary Clinton, there was this:
and this …
Author: craigcrawford
Trail Mix Host. Lapsed journalist, author & retired pundit happily promoting nothing but the truth for Social Security checks.
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craig, re the argument of judgement and the authorization to president vote, please remember that Obama was not in the senate at the time and therefore did not have to make a choice. please listen again 3:00 minutes in on Hillary’s comments. he was never faced with weighing as a us senator whether to give a sitting president authority to take whatever action that president deemed circumstances made necessary.
Bernie can claim that choice kudo but barack couldn’t and shouldn’t have claimed he did…. but no one in media at the time accused him of lying about it.
This makes me think of the “see how much Abraham Lincoln aged during his administration” series of photos that pop up in history books. How young & smooth faced Senators Obama & Clinton appeared. (If SNL parodied this today, Senator Edwards would be played by Kyle Mooney, aka the kiss of death re: political Candidates.)
Remembering what a passionate, natural speaker President Obama was. Can he still “fire it up”? This was one of his greatest strengths as a Candidate in 2008. People responded. It will be interesting to see how audiences respond & what the results of his efforts will be come November.
Meanwhile the Republicans are giving some pretty funny excuses to not attend their Convention. At this point there may be more protestors than actual Republicans in Cleveland.
Obama liked to vote “present” on other contentious issues as a Senator, in order to avoid having a record during his run for prez.
Hillary voted, but chose poorly.
Refusing to pass judgment/no record vs poor judgement.
Yes, both probably made those decisions, or lack thereof, because they were looking at how it would play when they were running for prez. Both were playing the long con.
Then, there are the Clinton Foundation’s apparent ties to involvement in foreign, military affairs.
Bernie is the wave of the future. The old guard has mucked thing up quite enough.
Hillary has made decisions in the past when she totally had to rely on the input and demands of others. Some of those have been wrong, some right, and some just protective in the face of unreasonable onslaught of garbage. I’ll let you guys divvy up which were which. What I do know is that there are three people out there who want to sit behind the Resolute making decisions. Which one of the three is most likely to keep the country out of trouble whether coming from the outside or the inside.
sjwny, fearless leader has admitted in the past his delight in “stirring the pot” on the trail, deliberately poking at the hornet’s nest to liven up the conversation. remember it was like a see saw sometimes.
Don’t forget the uber importance of the Senate/Congressional races. We’ve had almost 8 years of a Democratic administration that was effectively neutered by the opposition more often than not. The Executive Branch isn’t a monarchy. It needs the Legislative Branch to function. Help elect competent Public Servants who work for us.
HARI SREENIVASAN: Donald Trump is still right in the news. And here we have a possibility where possibly two of the — the Republican and the Democratic National Committee kind of nominees could have kind of legal clouds hanging over them or at least an investigation hanging over them as they become the nominees and representatives of the party for the presidency.
DAVID BROOKS: Yes, well, the Trump thing in the news today, my newspaper had a good story on the Trump University.
And we sort of had the outlines of the story, but I think what was fresh in some of the new documents that we now have access to is the way that professors at Trump University were really pressuring people to get out their credit cards, to get multiple credit cards, to max out their credit cards, just to give all this money to Trump University, and then they left these people high and dry and deeply in debt, offering them very little in return.
So it was the machinations of scamming these people that we learned today.
HARI SREENIVASAN: Fair that Hillary Clinton says this means that my competitor, my opponent is a fraud?
MARK SHIELDS: Well, if you listen to the plaintiffs.
I mean, Donald Trump did a classic Donald Trump defense, which is to attack the judge, not — who didn’t bring the case, who’s hearing the case. The judge isn’t the plaintiff. The judge isn’t saying he was scammed or bilked. The judge happens — Judge Gonzalo Curiel happens to be of Latin descent.
Donald Trump accused him of having a vendetta because of that. He is a native of Indiana. And he — you know, this is classic, classic Trump.
But David’s former employer, The Wall Street Journal editorial page, today took him on as the politics of personal grievance, that he has an ability to personalize things, in addition to this legal case today. I think it is quite unparalleled in presidential nominees.
the more i think about this post- the more pathetic i find it. what purpose does it serve? do you honestly think anyone (actually i can think of one person) could forget these exchanges? and of course the most important part you left out- is that shortly thereafter- hillary was out stumping for obama. then he hired her. ba da bing. cha ching.
speaking of legal clouds hanging over candidates heads, anything new on Bernie’s missing $10 million and other discrepancies in his f.e.c. reports?
oh yeah, and where are the income tax releases for both the bern and the don? how ’bout going back releasing 33 yrs like the Clintons did and continue to do online for clinton foundation finances? where are the media outcries, outrages and accusations of coverup with regard to the boys?
Donald Trump, lashing back at Barack Obama after the president waded forcefully into the presidential campaign, on Wednesday said Obama “doesn’t have a clue” and threatened to turn his attacks on him in retaliation.
Sorry you feel that way because you are an important voice.
The story you told last night about meeting Secretary Clinton was lovely. I’ve always thought she comes across best one on one. The clips I’ve seen of her are quite appealing in that circumstance. You’ve been witness to this …. Preach, Woman! You know of what you speak.
A few months ago I commented on how the Clinton Campaign should play up the life story of Dorothy Rodham & her influence on her daughter (an amazingly heartbreaking story) & the line that leads to Chelsea & Charlotte. This is appealing & important not only to women but to anyone with a heart & a conscience. Everyone had a Mother. Most have a sister, a daughter. Yes, experience as an International Leader is extremely important, but the experience of everyday life relates to everyone. Hillary Clinton, Daughter, Mother, Grandmother is a likable person.
At least Obama is going to campaign (WH billed yesterday’s speech as a preview). So many Democrats did not want him during the ’14 midterm he sat out most of that one.
RE: the rehashing of a few campaign statements from 2008, I think Obama’s decision to name Hillary as his Secretary of State – the one person in the government who manages the international relations between the US and the rest of the countries of the world as the voice of the United States and the president of the United States- speaks more to his opinion of Hillary’s judgment than did his campaign rhetoric. Maybe not – maybe we should listen to words spoken in an adversarial presidential campaign rather than observe the import of his actions.
BTW, although I don’t put much stock in this, 538 dropped HIllary’s chances of winning CA to 94%. The media (Craig included) is doing backflips over the 2% poll. (Craig, I know your point is that it is an indication she hasn’t put bernie away, and I get that). What they seem to ignore is that of the last 7 CA polls (at least the 7 listed at 538) beginning with polls conducted from April 18 forward, Hillary has come out at 2% ahead in 3 of them, and was ahead by 18, 13, 10 & 19 in the others. Point being that the 2% poll is not or should not be a surprise any more than it would have been if it had been a double digit lead. So fuhchrissake, quit freaking out over one goddam poll.
I wish Joe Biden would go out on the campaign trail. No one is better at pointing the absurdities of people and policies than Joe. He could be the perfect Trump basher. Always done with a smile.
OK, bernie, ‘splain this: (All based on polling averages at RCP)
Clinton v. Sanders – Clinton +10.8%
Clinton v, Trump – Clinton + 1.5%
Sanders v. Trump – Sanders + 10.8%
How does your margin over Trump in polls not generalize to a margin over Clinton? And why would super delegates give you a win you have not been able to secure in your contests against Clinton? You want the system rigged in your favor? sounds that way to me.
Oh, and Donald, the Dem proportional system with super delegates is no more or less rigged than the ‘pugn hodgepodge with unbound delegate system.
If the system is rigged, and I’m not saying it is, it was rigged and in place before Sanders ever announced. If he didn’t understand that, shame on him. finding these things out in advance is part of the reason you form exploratory committees. A failure to do proper research and planing does not constitute a rigged system, it may however constitute an inept campaign structure. all this talk of a rigged system is just Weaver and company refusing to admit that they dropped the ball in the early stages. They need to give it a rest.
Has there been a known circumstance where a Poll(s) was/were self-fulfilling? Meaning either they were an impetus to get out the vote or a detriment in keeping people home [the Why bother? crowd].
Bill Clinton, stb First Gent, is coming to the rural parts today! He will visit the true borderland (I can see Mexico from here!) to speak about immigration and education….the El Paso, Texas networks will be covering the event live. Many dems from Texas will travel to Las Cruces today as it is their only tether to anything democratic. Last visit to Las Cruces? 1996. The bountiful Mesilla Valley relies on it guest worker program to make sure the good ole USA has its green chiles and onions! Expect immigration discussion to center on that rural issue.
Hubby thinks Clinton will have a cakewalk in November as trump is a pr joke. trump is like Putin, a billionaire who uses pr to distort his bullying as strength. Look at the pr hoax of the Olympics in Russia…visitors from their half finished masonite rooms wondered are we at the summer or winter Olympics? Trump is of the same cloth of the empty suit. It is what happens when citizens get their political education and news from Faux News and the weaker networks copy the untruths. Spewing and reiterating garbage…there is where artificial intelligence springs from, not some mechanical robot.
trump’s borderwall? I understand that Mika, Joe and Christie were all stopped there when visiting trump’s internal hinterlands! It brings new meaning to the repug mantra of passports for bathroom use.
Polls, polls, polls, polls…. or should I say spam, spam, spam, spam…
OSH…. thinking about your comment on last thread. I agree with you about not accepting the hatred of Hillary as just an entitled opinion. It’s not too far removed from saying that the hatred of other ethnic groups or LBTG members is just an entitled opinion. Criticism is fair game… but blatant non-justifiable hatred is not.
Craig, I was specific about the polls I was referring to and the timeframe. Last Friday the 2% poll was the outlier. Could be that the 2 newest ones reflect the state of the race, then again maybe not. My point was there were 3 2% polls out there among 7 in the past 6 weeks. Shorten the timeframe to a week and she’s 2% ahead – if the polls are right. Clinton obviously is concerned enough to focus her campaign on CA for a few days. But I’m not freaking out. As CA proves, polls vary widely. I probably should have phrased my prior post as something like quit freaking out over teh one goddam poll the idiots at MoJo are hammering on.
Mrs Jack got her Woman’s card in the mail along with a deal me in tshirt.
I guess it is time to make another donation.
OSH, Renee, I agree, not all opinions are equal. It is why I always look for well supported ones when cruising the internet tubes.
To quote Dad, opinions are like assholes , everybody has one
So I don’t see the need for respecting anyone for having either one.
Why do I support HRC.
She is qualified, She is an internationalist while she is a progressive it is not the anticapitalist type, she believes in the system that has brought this generation unprecedented prosperity and won’t destroy it. Instead she will work very hard to fix problems and make it better.
This election so far is a nativist revolt, it is obvious on the right wing, that is all Trump is. But Bernie is also running a nativist campaign just the left wing version
Jack
Jack, I like your dad’s version of the opinions/assholes saying. I heard it as “opinions are like assholes – everyone has one and nobody cares about anyone else’s.”
Jamie, ya just gotta love Barney. He was on Tweety’s show the other night with Jeff Weaver – he was able to make weaver look like the ass he is.
I suspect that Bernie went to VT not because it is lily white, but because it is a very tolerant place (at least in Burlington). His leaving did coincide with the white flight of the 60s from the big NE cities, but it’s not like he moved to CT to get out of Brooklyn.
Oh, and Poobah, btw, of the last 8 polls in CA, (ending 4/13 and forward) 4 had a Hillary lead of 2% and 4 had a Hillary lead of 12-19%). The 19 is an outlier only if you restrict the range of polls to the last 4 and ignore those prior double digit results. And the national head to head polls between Hillary and Bernie over the past 3 weeks have shown a difference of 7, 8, 14 and 14 points in favor of Clinton in date order of 5/17, 5/19, 5/19 & 5/31. no outliers there, just a trend that cuts against bernie’s pleas to the super delegates. On April 10 or thereabouts bernie had cut hillary’s lead to 1% from 11% in mid March. Back then Bernie’s folks were touting those polls. No longer. Now they are ignoring national head to heads because they don’t advance his meme. Can’t look at the polls without context. Just saying.
Oregon Democrat
8 years ago
Pogo…thanks for some needed perspective. I am waiting to watch Hillary’s speech on Trump/foreign policy.
Pogo, month-old CA polls not much good. There is a clear trend line showing a virtual tie in last 3 out of 4. Obviously, Clinton internals showing that, they’re scrambling out there.
Hill giving a tough speech, just gotta wonder if wise to make it all about Trump. “I’m not the other guy” arguments not exactly inspiring.
Oregon Democrat
8 years ago
CNN…”this is the strongest speech Hillary Clinton has ever made”
boss, could be they’re trying to bait him. sooner or later he’s gonna show his real self again and that ain’t pretty. lately (‘cept for Tuesday presser) he’s controlled himself to some extent.
She called his national security ideas a series of “incoherent rants, personal attacks and outright lies.”
“This is not someone who should ever have the nuclear codes,” she declared, claiming Trump could start a war just because somebody “got under his very thin skin.”
[….]
“Donald Trump’s ideas aren’t just different — they are dangerously incoherent,” Clinton said. “They’re not even really ideas — just a series of bizarre rants, personal feuds, and outright lies.”
She continued, “He’s not just unprepared — he’s temperamentally unfit to hold an office that requires knowledge, stability and immense responsibility.”
And she added, “We cannot put the safety of our children and grandchildren in Donald Trump’s hands. We cannot let him roll the dice with America.”
buckle your seat belts, folks, we’re in for a wild ride now
btw, wonder what Israel thinks about trump’s edict that all our allies pay their fair share. also do they stand with him on his everybody having nukes that want them.
Thrust of this speech was asserting her superior judgment on foreign affairs — but she offered no defense or even a mention of her own judgement on Libya, Iraq, and other mistakes she herself has acknowledged. Not sure opening that door such a good idea. So far she has been so careful to keep the details of her track record as Secretary of State out of the campaign, not anymore.
So watching Bernie last night say that if he wins CA, the supers will have to take into account that he won the most populus state. OK, but does that help him? Some maybe, but how’s that play out with the other states if you’re counting the population of states won?
Hillary won 8 of the 9 most populus states that have voted and bernie won 1 (CA is the only one of the top 10 still waiting to vote), hillary won 14 of the top 20 and bernie won 4 (CA & NJ still to vote), and hillary won 17 of the top 25, bernie won 6. Now to the bottom 25. Bernie won 7 of the smallest 10, Hillary won 1, bernie won 12 of the smallest 20, Hillary won 4, and finally Bernie won 14 of the smallest 25 and Hillary won 7. Tally so far – Hillary 24, Bernie 20. The population of the states Hillary’s won is 212 million and Bernie, 67 million (rounded to the nearest million). There are 52 million remaining in states that haven’t voted.
I REALLY don’t think he wants to frame the CA win if there is one in the context of population. If he ran the table of the last 6, he would have won 1 state more than hillary, and his states would have a combined population of 119 million versus 212 for hillary. But he ain’t gonna win NJ, so the best he could do would be to tie in states won and have 109 mil. population represented versus Hillary’s 222 (33% v. 67%) What’s a poor super delegate to do? My apologies if any of my numbers are wrong – they are due to rounding errors, which favor bernies small states primarily, and are based on estimated 7/1/2015 pop numbers as reported in Wiki.
“but she offered no defense or even a mention of her own judgement on Libya, Iraq, and other mistakes she herself has acknowledged”
and when did the bern or the don ever admit to their mistakes during an attack speech on their opponents and when did the presidents who actually ordered those questionable actions own up to any mistakes?
must she always be expected to wear hair shirts and beat up on herself when such is not required of the others, the men?
Oregon Democrat
8 years ago
Craig…you have become more of a cranky annoyance than anything else…What happened to your sense of humor that brought me here in the first place?
Sorry Oregon, something about watching both parties ransack the middle class and start wars for their corporate patrons cost me my sense of humor I guess. Will try to get it back. Thanks for the nudge.
“Must she always be expected to wear hair shirts and beat up on herself when such is not required of the others, the men?”
Women just have to keep hounding the guys about this. They just can’t seem to help themselves. It was a wonderful speech and she delivered it well. There was absolutely no need to fall on her sword just to make a bunch of nitpickers who don’t want girls in the clubhouse feel good about themselves.
Can’t find the actual statement, but Hillary did speak about Libya, what went wrong and the way forward now. This is as close to that as I could find at present. I’ll get more for you if I can find it. Disagree if you will, but she’s not dodging the responsibility.
Jamie, if it is the statement I am thinking about (in one of the last debates, on ABC) she basically blamed Obama, said it was his decision, went on to make a weird argument that Libya better off now than Syria proving they were right in Libya. Martha Raddatz pressed her hard couple times in that debate but that’s all she got. My only point is that Hillary got more big decisions wrong than she got right in the foreign policy arena. Which is why she mostly talks only about how many countries she visited. Her hawkish instincts bother me muchly. This speech today was a well deserved assault on Trump but brings all this stuff back into focus.
“Trump criticized Clinton’s support for both the Iraq war when she was a senator and military intervention in Libya when she was secretary of state, policies he had also supported. ”
He does know they keep records of things people say doesn’t he?
Paul Ryan has finally endorsed Trump. I’m still not convinced that something else won’t transpire to give the GOP a different nom, though. It’s been a weird season, so I guess I expect more of the same.
While I disagree with the support of Hillary, the only thing I find offensive on the trail is that poor chicken with a Trump wig. I would feel sorry for the hen without the wig, as well, but that was her body/life taken for a stupid joke.
Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans to raise Obsmacare plans in TX by 60%. Not enough folks signed up & those that did probably hadn’t seen a doc in years….shock, they were sicker than the insurance company had anticipated.
Jamie, point taken, just think it robs the candidate of authenticity to have someone else write a speech and then publicize it wasn’t the candidate’s words. That’s the conventional political theater so out of vogue this cycle.
Who wrote the speech? Clinton was personally invested, spending hours on crafting the remarks and working on her delivery, aides say. Speechwriters Dan Schwerin and Megan Rooney, along with policy advisers Jake Sullivan and Laura Rosenberger, worked on it with her, starting with an outline Clinton delivered 10 days ago. Clinton spent her coast-to-coast plane ride Wednesday revising the speech with Rooney. She kept working on the specific language right up until the speech.
“Must she always be expected to wear hair shirts and beat up on herself when such is not required of the others, the men?”
Pat
Yes, i guess according some of the pundits. Ridiculous, yes white men demand it!!
Wonderful speech by Hillary today.. Some have suggested Hillary was acting like Trump insulting him, NO SHE WASN’T. Hillary simply used his own words against him making a case against him to ever be commander in chief..
The Sanders voters in Naked Capitalism’s active commentariat also explicitly reject lesser-evilism, the cudgel that has previously kept true lefties somewhat in line. They are willing to gamble, given that outsider presidents like Jimmy Carter and celebrity governors like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura didn’t get much done, that a Trump presidency represents an acceptable cost of inflicting punishment on the Democratic Party for 20 years of selling out ordinary Americans.
Why do progressives reject Hillary Clinton? The highly educated, high-income, finance-literate readers of my website, Naked Capitalism, don’t just overwhelmingly favor Bernie Sanders. They also say “Hell no!” to Hillary Clinton to the degree that many say they would even vote for Donald Trump over her.
And they don’t come by these views casually. Their conclusions are the result of careful study of her record and her policy proposals. They believe the country can no longer endure the status quo that Clinton represents—one of crushing inequality, and an economy that is literally killing off the less fortunate—and any change will be better. One reader writes:
“If Clinton is the nominee 9 out of 10 friends I polled will [do one of three things]:
A. Not vote for president in November.
B. Vote for Trump.
C. Write in Bernie as a protest vote.
“We are all fifty-somethings with money and college educations. Oh, and we are all registered Democrats.”
“Why do progressives reject Hillary Clinton? The highly educated, high-income, finance-literate readers of my website, Naked Capitalism, don’t just overwhelmingly favor Bernie Sanders. They also say “Hell no!” to Hillary Clinton to the degree that many say they would even vote for Donald Trump over her.”
Oh my my, what a load of rubbish. The writer of that piece reminds me of H.A.Goodman. Delusional and needs to get out more.. Progressives rejecting Hillary, lol has he seen the vote totals lately, umm, it’s very much the opposite. Oh and too funny about real Progressives voting Trump then they aren’t Progressives their haters.. I’m not worried one bit about Bernie voters not supporting Hillary, they will.. Another reminder of 2008 when so called PUMA’s were gonna take Obama down, NOT..
But Clinton avoided all of those pitfalls this week. She towered even as she skewered Trump’s background, acumen, and mental stability. Her charge that he’s a “fraud” who’s scamming America was downright sticky. Her suggestion that he’s a mad man who might blow up the world because of his “very thin skin” resonated. And her quip that she doesn’t “believe him” when he says he knows “more about ISIS than the generals, believe me,” impugned the entire basis of his candidacy. You either believe him or you don’t, cuz god knows there’s no there there.
Far from dominating the news cycle, Trump sputtered in the face of a sustained attack from a woman (horrors!) who rolled over him like an upfitted humvee. Paul Ryan’s tepid embrace of Trump was a footnote on the day, and Trump’s retaliatory tweets were laughable. After all, who cares what a mad man says?
I don’t belong to a Hillary Clinton fan club but i give cash and make calls for the campaign.. You minimize and slam a person’s support for their candidate by referring to support for HRC as being fan based club thing. For myself, I do love the lady and feel she is the most qualified ever to run for President.. I also have much respect for her honesty and for being a tough fighter.. Hillary will be a great President, yes with the help of millions of Bernie supporters as well..
I hope you find a candidate that you can have that kind of faith in as it’s a good feeling.. Bill and now Hillary, what a ride..
FanClubMyAss. In the political world I operate in as a voter it boils down to choices, and usually it’s A or B. Right now it’s A, Hillary versus B, Bernie. Bernie offers dreams that no congress that we’ll see elected will ever get to his desk if he pulls it off. Dream on. He’s chosen to remove himself from the congressional funding process, lessening the likelihood of having candidates who would support his agenda get elected. He’s supported what, 3 long shots, and hasn’t raised funds generally for dem candidates. Thanks, but I choose A. If my choice prevails (or not) it’s again A v. B. Then it is a no brainer, but FCMA. Its offensive and dismissive. If there’s a fan club out there on the dem side, it’s B’s believers, because as a matter of substance he’s full of empty promises and only a fan buys that.
Founded in 2005, Trail Mix is a news commenting site gently moderated by Craig Crawford for the sole purpose of encouraging civil discourse for all points of view on any topic of interest to all comers.
craig, re the argument of judgement and the authorization to president vote, please remember that Obama was not in the senate at the time and therefore did not have to make a choice. please listen again 3:00 minutes in on Hillary’s comments. he was never faced with weighing as a us senator whether to give a sitting president authority to take whatever action that president deemed circumstances made necessary.
Bernie can claim that choice kudo but barack couldn’t and shouldn’t have claimed he did…. but no one in media at the time accused him of lying about it.
This makes me think of the “see how much Abraham Lincoln aged during his administration” series of photos that pop up in history books. How young & smooth faced Senators Obama & Clinton appeared. (If SNL parodied this today, Senator Edwards would be played by Kyle Mooney, aka the kiss of death re: political Candidates.)
Remembering what a passionate, natural speaker President Obama was. Can he still “fire it up”? This was one of his greatest strengths as a Candidate in 2008. People responded. It will be interesting to see how audiences respond & what the results of his efforts will be come November.
Meanwhile the Republicans are giving some pretty funny excuses to not attend their Convention. At this point there may be more protestors than actual Republicans in Cleveland.
Obama liked to vote “present” on other contentious issues as a Senator, in order to avoid having a record during his run for prez.
Hillary voted, but chose poorly.
Refusing to pass judgment/no record vs poor judgement.
Yes, both probably made those decisions, or lack thereof, because they were looking at how it would play when they were running for prez. Both were playing the long con.
Then, there are the Clinton Foundation’s apparent ties to involvement in foreign, military affairs.
Bernie is the wave of the future. The old guard has mucked thing up quite enough.
Atta boy Craig- keep stirring the pot, right up until the day that bernie is officially the loser and in our past.
Hillary has made decisions in the past when she totally had to rely on the input and demands of others. Some of those have been wrong, some right, and some just protective in the face of unreasonable onslaught of garbage. I’ll let you guys divvy up which were which. What I do know is that there are three people out there who want to sit behind the Resolute making decisions. Which one of the three is most likely to keep the country out of trouble whether coming from the outside or the inside.
Donald Trump – Ignorance
Bernie Sanders – Arrogance
Hillary Clinton – Ability
Again take your pick.
oldseahag,
Think of these subjects as opportunities to make the case for your Candidate. It’s not stirring the pot; it’s free press 😉
Libertarian VP Candidate Dispels Clinton Email Scandal In 20 Seconds
Putting it to rest in front of Chuckie Todd who really really wants it to be a thing. As Oliver would say, “Why Is This A Thing?”.
sjwny, fearless leader has admitted in the past his delight in “stirring the pot” on the trail, deliberately poking at the hornet’s nest to liven up the conversation. remember it was like a see saw sometimes.
Don’t forget the uber importance of the Senate/Congressional races. We’ve had almost 8 years of a Democratic administration that was effectively neutered by the opposition more often than not. The Executive Branch isn’t a monarchy. It needs the Legislative Branch to function. Help elect competent Public Servants who work for us.
patd,
No matter the intention…. use it as an opportunity ✔ 😉
GWEN IFILL: Why don’t you mention Donald Trump by name?
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: You know, he seems to do a good job mentioning his own name.
(LAUGHTER)
also last night on pbs newshour
HARI SREENIVASAN: Donald Trump is still right in the news. And here we have a possibility where possibly two of the — the Republican and the Democratic National Committee kind of nominees could have kind of legal clouds hanging over them or at least an investigation hanging over them as they become the nominees and representatives of the party for the presidency.
DAVID BROOKS: Yes, well, the Trump thing in the news today, my newspaper had a good story on the Trump University.
And we sort of had the outlines of the story, but I think what was fresh in some of the new documents that we now have access to is the way that professors at Trump University were really pressuring people to get out their credit cards, to get multiple credit cards, to max out their credit cards, just to give all this money to Trump University, and then they left these people high and dry and deeply in debt, offering them very little in return.
So it was the machinations of scamming these people that we learned today.
HARI SREENIVASAN: Fair that Hillary Clinton says this means that my competitor, my opponent is a fraud?
MARK SHIELDS: Well, if you listen to the plaintiffs.
I mean, Donald Trump did a classic Donald Trump defense, which is to attack the judge, not — who didn’t bring the case, who’s hearing the case. The judge isn’t the plaintiff. The judge isn’t saying he was scammed or bilked. The judge happens — Judge Gonzalo Curiel happens to be of Latin descent.
Donald Trump accused him of having a vendetta because of that. He is a native of Indiana. And he — you know, this is classic, classic Trump.
But David’s former employer, The Wall Street Journal editorial page, today took him on as the politics of personal grievance, that he has an ability to personalize things, in addition to this legal case today. I think it is quite unparalleled in presidential nominees.
the more i think about this post- the more pathetic i find it. what purpose does it serve? do you honestly think anyone (actually i can think of one person) could forget these exchanges? and of course the most important part you left out- is that shortly thereafter- hillary was out stumping for obama. then he hired her. ba da bing. cha ching.
sjwny- post like at this time hardly make the blog relevant, unless of course one is a repub in search of hillary hating ammo.
speaking of legal clouds hanging over candidates heads, anything new on Bernie’s missing $10 million and other discrepancies in his f.e.c. reports?
oh yeah, and where are the income tax releases for both the bern and the don? how ’bout going back releasing 33 yrs like the Clintons did and continue to do online for clinton foundation finances? where are the media outcries, outrages and accusations of coverup with regard to the boys?
Donald Trump warns Barack Obama he’ll ‘hit him’ like Bill Clinton
Donald Trump, lashing back at Barack Obama after the president waded forcefully into the presidential campaign, on Wednesday said Obama “doesn’t have a clue” and threatened to turn his attacks on him in retaliation.
oldseahag,
Sorry you feel that way because you are an important voice.
The story you told last night about meeting Secretary Clinton was lovely. I’ve always thought she comes across best one on one. The clips I’ve seen of her are quite appealing in that circumstance. You’ve been witness to this …. Preach, Woman! You know of what you speak.
A few months ago I commented on how the Clinton Campaign should play up the life story of Dorothy Rodham & her influence on her daughter (an amazingly heartbreaking story) & the line that leads to Chelsea & Charlotte. This is appealing & important not only to women but to anyone with a heart & a conscience. Everyone had a Mother. Most have a sister, a daughter. Yes, experience as an International Leader is extremely important, but the experience of everyday life relates to everyone. Hillary Clinton, Daughter, Mother, Grandmother is a likable person.
Just sayin’, for what it’s worth.
At the start if this campaign Clinton has a bio piece featuring her mother etc
At least Obama is going to campaign (WH billed yesterday’s speech as a preview). So many Democrats did not want him during the ’14 midterm he sat out most of that one.
I hope Donna Brasile is not in charge of turnout for the Dems she did a shitty job before
this election is about turnout
RE: the rehashing of a few campaign statements from 2008, I think Obama’s decision to name Hillary as his Secretary of State – the one person in the government who manages the international relations between the US and the rest of the countries of the world as the voice of the United States and the president of the United States- speaks more to his opinion of Hillary’s judgment than did his campaign rhetoric. Maybe not – maybe we should listen to words spoken in an adversarial presidential campaign rather than observe the import of his actions.
BTW, although I don’t put much stock in this, 538 dropped HIllary’s chances of winning CA to 94%. The media (Craig included) is doing backflips over the 2% poll. (Craig, I know your point is that it is an indication she hasn’t put bernie away, and I get that). What they seem to ignore is that of the last 7 CA polls (at least the 7 listed at 538) beginning with polls conducted from April 18 forward, Hillary has come out at 2% ahead in 3 of them, and was ahead by 18, 13, 10 & 19 in the others. Point being that the 2% poll is not or should not be a surprise any more than it would have been if it had been a double digit lead. So fuhchrissake, quit freaking out over one goddam poll.
I wish Joe Biden would go out on the campaign trail. No one is better at pointing the absurdities of people and policies than Joe. He could be the perfect Trump basher. Always done with a smile.
nothng but chickenshit coming out of that mouth credit Boing Boing
OK, bernie, ‘splain this: (All based on polling averages at RCP)
Clinton v. Sanders – Clinton +10.8%
Clinton v, Trump – Clinton + 1.5%
Sanders v. Trump – Sanders + 10.8%
How does your margin over Trump in polls not generalize to a margin over Clinton? And why would super delegates give you a win you have not been able to secure in your contests against Clinton? You want the system rigged in your favor? sounds that way to me.
Oh, and Donald, the Dem proportional system with super delegates is no more or less rigged than the ‘pugn hodgepodge with unbound delegate system.
KC, LOL!
“nothing but chickenshit coming out of that mouth”
KGC,
Sadly far to many voters think that it’s chicken dumplings.
If the system is rigged, and I’m not saying it is, it was rigged and in place before Sanders ever announced. If he didn’t understand that, shame on him. finding these things out in advance is part of the reason you form exploratory committees. A failure to do proper research and planing does not constitute a rigged system, it may however constitute an inept campaign structure. all this talk of a rigged system is just Weaver and company refusing to admit that they dropped the ball in the early stages. They need to give it a rest.
Do the math Bernie.
As for Obama and Clinton’s unlikable past They aren’t friends they are politicians in the same party but not the same clique
He said a lot of bad things about her during the primary including calling her a bitch but so what. What if she is? He’s turned out ot be an a jerk
This may have something to do with why Bernie doesn’t like Barney
Pogo, there are three 2pt polls from CA and one outlier at 18+…
Has there been a known circumstance where a Poll(s) was/were self-fulfilling? Meaning either they were an impetus to get out the vote or a detriment in keeping people home [the Why bother? crowd].
Bill Clinton, stb First Gent, is coming to the rural parts today! He will visit the true borderland (I can see Mexico from here!) to speak about immigration and education….the El Paso, Texas networks will be covering the event live. Many dems from Texas will travel to Las Cruces today as it is their only tether to anything democratic. Last visit to Las Cruces? 1996. The bountiful Mesilla Valley relies on it guest worker program to make sure the good ole USA has its green chiles and onions! Expect immigration discussion to center on that rural issue.
Hubby thinks Clinton will have a cakewalk in November as trump is a pr joke. trump is like Putin, a billionaire who uses pr to distort his bullying as strength. Look at the pr hoax of the Olympics in Russia…visitors from their half finished masonite rooms wondered are we at the summer or winter Olympics? Trump is of the same cloth of the empty suit. It is what happens when citizens get their political education and news from Faux News and the weaker networks copy the untruths. Spewing and reiterating garbage…there is where artificial intelligence springs from, not some mechanical robot.
nice post BW
trump’s borderwall? I understand that Mika, Joe and Christie were all stopped there when visiting trump’s internal hinterlands! It brings new meaning to the repug mantra of passports for bathroom use.
Polls, polls, polls, polls…. or should I say spam, spam, spam, spam…
OSH…. thinking about your comment on last thread. I agree with you about not accepting the hatred of Hillary as just an entitled opinion. It’s not too far removed from saying that the hatred of other ethnic groups or LBTG members is just an entitled opinion. Criticism is fair game… but blatant non-justifiable hatred is not.
Craig, I was specific about the polls I was referring to and the timeframe. Last Friday the 2% poll was the outlier. Could be that the 2 newest ones reflect the state of the race, then again maybe not. My point was there were 3 2% polls out there among 7 in the past 6 weeks. Shorten the timeframe to a week and she’s 2% ahead – if the polls are right. Clinton obviously is concerned enough to focus her campaign on CA for a few days. But I’m not freaking out. As CA proves, polls vary widely. I probably should have phrased my prior post as something like quit freaking out over teh one goddam poll the idiots at MoJo are hammering on.
Pat
Mrs Jack got her Woman’s card in the mail along with a deal me in tshirt.
I guess it is time to make another donation.
OSH, Renee, I agree, not all opinions are equal. It is why I always look for well supported ones when cruising the internet tubes.
To quote Dad, opinions are like assholes , everybody has one
So I don’t see the need for respecting anyone for having either one.
Why do I support HRC.
She is qualified, She is an internationalist while she is a progressive it is not the anticapitalist type, she believes in the system that has brought this generation unprecedented prosperity and won’t destroy it. Instead she will work very hard to fix problems and make it better.
This election so far is a nativist revolt, it is obvious on the right wing, that is all Trump is. But Bernie is also running a nativist campaign just the left wing version
Jack
I read something the other day about CA polling.
Seems the problem is figuring out who is a likely voter. in the democratic race.
Jack
Jack, I like your dad’s version of the opinions/assholes saying. I heard it as “opinions are like assholes – everyone has one and nobody cares about anyone else’s.”
Jamie, ya just gotta love Barney. He was on Tweety’s show the other night with Jeff Weaver – he was able to make weaver look like the ass he is.
Jamie, good for barney! when did he say that, before or after Bernie tried to boot him off the convention comm?
do wonder tho’ about the “white flight” comment – pretty low blow unless there’s something of substance behind it.
obviously theirs is not a bromance.
I suspect that Bernie went to VT not because it is lily white, but because it is a very tolerant place (at least in Burlington). His leaving did coincide with the white flight of the 60s from the big NE cities, but it’s not like he moved to CT to get out of Brooklyn.
Oh, and Poobah, btw, of the last 8 polls in CA, (ending 4/13 and forward) 4 had a Hillary lead of 2% and 4 had a Hillary lead of 12-19%). The 19 is an outlier only if you restrict the range of polls to the last 4 and ignore those prior double digit results. And the national head to head polls between Hillary and Bernie over the past 3 weeks have shown a difference of 7, 8, 14 and 14 points in favor of Clinton in date order of 5/17, 5/19, 5/19 & 5/31. no outliers there, just a trend that cuts against bernie’s pleas to the super delegates. On April 10 or thereabouts bernie had cut hillary’s lead to 1% from 11% in mid March. Back then Bernie’s folks were touting those polls. No longer. Now they are ignoring national head to heads because they don’t advance his meme. Can’t look at the polls without context. Just saying.
Pogo…thanks for some needed perspective. I am waiting to watch Hillary’s speech on Trump/foreign policy.
Great Hillary speech!!!
Pogo, month-old CA polls not much good. There is a clear trend line showing a virtual tie in last 3 out of 4. Obviously, Clinton internals showing that, they’re scrambling out there.
Hill giving a tough speech, just gotta wonder if wise to make it all about Trump. “I’m not the other guy” arguments not exactly inspiring.
CNN…”this is the strongest speech Hillary Clinton has ever made”
Oregon, cmon, CNN didn’t say that. Clinton groupie Fareed Zakaria said that.
“if wise to make it all about Trump”
boss, could be they’re trying to bait him. sooner or later he’s gonna show his real self again and that ain’t pretty. lately (‘cept for Tuesday presser) he’s controlled himself to some extent.
Hillary Clinton: Trump is ‘temperamentally unfit’ to be president
She called his national security ideas a series of “incoherent rants, personal attacks and outright lies.”
“This is not someone who should ever have the nuclear codes,” she declared, claiming Trump could start a war just because somebody “got under his very thin skin.”
[….]
“Donald Trump’s ideas aren’t just different — they are dangerously incoherent,” Clinton said. “They’re not even really ideas — just a series of bizarre rants, personal feuds, and outright lies.”
She continued, “He’s not just unprepared — he’s temperamentally unfit to hold an office that requires knowledge, stability and immense responsibility.”
And she added, “We cannot put the safety of our children and grandchildren in Donald Trump’s hands. We cannot let him roll the dice with America.”
buckle your seat belts, folks, we’re in for a wild ride now
btw, wonder what Israel thinks about trump’s edict that all our allies pay their fair share. also do they stand with him on his everybody having nukes that want them.
Thrust of this speech was asserting her superior judgment on foreign affairs — but she offered no defense or even a mention of her own judgement on Libya, Iraq, and other mistakes she herself has acknowledged. Not sure opening that door such a good idea. So far she has been so careful to keep the details of her track record as Secretary of State out of the campaign, not anymore.
So watching Bernie last night say that if he wins CA, the supers will have to take into account that he won the most populus state. OK, but does that help him? Some maybe, but how’s that play out with the other states if you’re counting the population of states won?
Hillary won 8 of the 9 most populus states that have voted and bernie won 1 (CA is the only one of the top 10 still waiting to vote), hillary won 14 of the top 20 and bernie won 4 (CA & NJ still to vote), and hillary won 17 of the top 25, bernie won 6. Now to the bottom 25. Bernie won 7 of the smallest 10, Hillary won 1, bernie won 12 of the smallest 20, Hillary won 4, and finally Bernie won 14 of the smallest 25 and Hillary won 7. Tally so far – Hillary 24, Bernie 20. The population of the states Hillary’s won is 212 million and Bernie, 67 million (rounded to the nearest million). There are 52 million remaining in states that haven’t voted.
I REALLY don’t think he wants to frame the CA win if there is one in the context of population. If he ran the table of the last 6, he would have won 1 state more than hillary, and his states would have a combined population of 119 million versus 212 for hillary. But he ain’t gonna win NJ, so the best he could do would be to tie in states won and have 109 mil. population represented versus Hillary’s 222 (33% v. 67%) What’s a poor super delegate to do? My apologies if any of my numbers are wrong – they are due to rounding errors, which favor bernies small states primarily, and are based on estimated 7/1/2015 pop numbers as reported in Wiki.
“but she offered no defense or even a mention of her own judgement on Libya, Iraq, and other mistakes she herself has acknowledged”
and when did the bern or the don ever admit to their mistakes during an attack speech on their opponents and when did the presidents who actually ordered those questionable actions own up to any mistakes?
must she always be expected to wear hair shirts and beat up on herself when such is not required of the others, the men?
Craig…you have become more of a cranky annoyance than anything else…What happened to your sense of humor that brought me here in the first place?
PatD, Obama said Libya “worst mistake” of his presidency, and generously failed to mention it was Hillary’s idea
Sorry Oregon, something about watching both parties ransack the middle class and start wars for their corporate patrons cost me my sense of humor I guess. Will try to get it back. Thanks for the nudge.
patd
Women just have to keep hounding the guys about this. They just can’t seem to help themselves. It was a wonderful speech and she delivered it well. There was absolutely no need to fall on her sword just to make a bunch of nitpickers who don’t want girls in the clubhouse feel good about themselves.
Craig
Can’t find the actual statement, but Hillary did speak about Libya, what went wrong and the way forward now. This is as close to that as I could find at present. I’ll get more for you if I can find it. Disagree if you will, but she’s not dodging the responsibility.
Clinton Has No Regrets
Jamie, if it is the statement I am thinking about (in one of the last debates, on ABC) she basically blamed Obama, said it was his decision, went on to make a weird argument that Libya better off now than Syria proving they were right in Libya. Martha Raddatz pressed her hard couple times in that debate but that’s all she got. My only point is that Hillary got more big decisions wrong than she got right in the foreign policy arena. Which is why she mostly talks only about how many countries she visited. Her hawkish instincts bother me muchly. This speech today was a well deserved assault on Trump but brings all this stuff back into focus.
From WaPo on the speech – classic Trump.
“Trump criticized Clinton’s support for both the Iraq war when she was a senator and military intervention in Libya when she was secretary of state, policies he had also supported. ”
He does know they keep records of things people say doesn’t he?
Pogo, so they were both wrong. Aren’t we lucky?
Paul Ryan has finally endorsed Trump. I’m still not convinced that something else won’t transpire to give the GOP a different nom, though. It’s been a weird season, so I guess I expect more of the same.
While I disagree with the support of Hillary, the only thing I find offensive on the trail is that poor chicken with a Trump wig. I would feel sorry for the hen without the wig, as well, but that was her body/life taken for a stupid joke.
Didn’t Trump’s 16 failed primary opponents try what Hillary did today? Use speechwriters to match him insult for insult?
Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans to raise Obsmacare plans in TX by 60%. Not enough folks signed up & those that did probably hadn’t seen a doc in years….shock, they were sicker than the insurance company had anticipated.
Hillary wants to build on this pile of crap?
Single payer, now!
Isn’t acting like Trump (insults) a form of pandering to voters?
Fort Hood: Several soldiers have drowned.
Trump Foreign Policy
Tweet to Putin: “My man breasts bigger than yours tough guy.”
Tweet to Brazil: “Hire strippers for opening ceremony, nobody will notice your country is falling apart.”
Tweet to China: “I was just kidding. Let’s get that casino deal moving.”
Ha, Clinton camp already leaking that Jake Sullivan wrote her speech today. Why do that? Good for him, but how does that help her?
https://youtu.be/EyQsIzhdogU
Craig
Tip of the hat to Jake Sullivan might be a an outreach to younger audience. He was part of the Time Mag 40 under 40 new power players plus being a major input on global issues for both Clinton & Obama for the past 8 years.
Jamie, point taken, just think it robs the candidate of authenticity to have someone else write a speech and then publicize it wasn’t the candidate’s words. That’s the conventional political theater so out of vogue this cycle.
Craig
CNN got to the bottom of it all with this:
Here’s the whole CNN Nightcap email
“Must she always be expected to wear hair shirts and beat up on herself when such is not required of the others, the men?”
Pat
Yes, i guess according some of the pundits. Ridiculous, yes white men demand it!!
Wonderful speech by Hillary today.. Some have suggested Hillary was acting like Trump insulting him, NO SHE WASN’T. Hillary simply used his own words against him making a case against him to ever be commander in chief..
Some of the Smartest Progressives I Know Will Vote for Trump over Hillary
Even on Wall Street, a powerful Sanders contingent so hates what Clinton stands for—the status quo—they’ll pull the lever for almost anyone else.
By Yves Smith, POLITICO Magazine, June 01, 2016
Why do progressives reject Hillary Clinton? The highly educated, high-income, finance-literate readers of my website, Naked Capitalism, don’t just overwhelmingly favor Bernie Sanders. They also say “Hell no!” to Hillary Clinton to the degree that many say they would even vote for Donald Trump over her.
And they don’t come by these views casually. Their conclusions are the result of careful study of her record and her policy proposals. They believe the country can no longer endure the status quo that Clinton represents—one of crushing inequality, and an economy that is literally killing off the less fortunate—and any change will be better. One reader writes:
“If Clinton is the nominee 9 out of 10 friends I polled will [do one of three things]:
A. Not vote for president in November.
B. Vote for Trump.
C. Write in Bernie as a protest vote.
“We are all fifty-somethings with money and college educations. Oh, and we are all registered Democrats.”
“Why do progressives reject Hillary Clinton? The highly educated, high-income, finance-literate readers of my website, Naked Capitalism, don’t just overwhelmingly favor Bernie Sanders. They also say “Hell no!” to Hillary Clinton to the degree that many say they would even vote for Donald Trump over her.”
Oh my my, what a load of rubbish. The writer of that piece reminds me of H.A.Goodman. Delusional and needs to get out more.. Progressives rejecting Hillary, lol has he seen the vote totals lately, umm, it’s very much the opposite. Oh and too funny about real Progressives voting Trump then they aren’t Progressives their haters.. I’m not worried one bit about Bernie voters not supporting Hillary, they will.. Another reminder of 2008 when so called PUMA’s were gonna take Obama down, NOT..
Craig
I must say, carping criticism does not look good on you. It’s almost Summer, wear something more neutral.
Hillary Clinton has already succeeded where Trump’s Republican rivals failed
Kerry Eleveld
Let The Hillary Clinton Fan Club attacks commence!
Purple
I don’t belong to a Hillary Clinton fan club but i give cash and make calls for the campaign.. You minimize and slam a person’s support for their candidate by referring to support for HRC as being fan based club thing. For myself, I do love the lady and feel she is the most qualified ever to run for President.. I also have much respect for her honesty and for being a tough fighter.. Hillary will be a great President, yes with the help of millions of Bernie supporters as well..
I hope you find a candidate that you can have that kind of faith in as it’s a good feeling.. Bill and now Hillary, what a ride..
hear , hear ! What a long strange trip its been
FanClubMyAss. In the political world I operate in as a voter it boils down to choices, and usually it’s A or B. Right now it’s A, Hillary versus B, Bernie. Bernie offers dreams that no congress that we’ll see elected will ever get to his desk if he pulls it off. Dream on. He’s chosen to remove himself from the congressional funding process, lessening the likelihood of having candidates who would support his agenda get elected. He’s supported what, 3 long shots, and hasn’t raised funds generally for dem candidates. Thanks, but I choose A. If my choice prevails (or not) it’s again A v. B. Then it is a no brainer, but FCMA. Its offensive and dismissive. If there’s a fan club out there on the dem side, it’s B’s believers, because as a matter of substance he’s full of empty promises and only a fan buys that.
BTW, the Cavs had a brief run in the 3rd but look like shit in the 4th. Damn. Enjoy it KC.
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Do you think we could have these conversations in China …. Russia …. Middle East? Man, are we lucky.
Just a thought.
Take care.
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