72 thoughts on “Next Question, Please?”

  1. K.O.’s latest, thanks to trail friend Sturge in wee small hours of this morning sharing with us:

    And the media continues to cover up for Donald Trump. Cover up. Not the cover up of his campaign emails hacked by a foreign government and sent to the New York Times, Washington Post and Politico.

    from COVER-UP OF TRUMP’S ARLINGTON – Countdown with Keith Olbermann – Apple Podcasts

     SPECIAL COMMENT: Once again, American political media is broken in a new way. 
    […]
    The media is ALSO covering up Trump’s Egypt bribe, his mental condition, whatever was in the emails hacked from his campaign, and the nonexistent Wille Brown Flight Logs. Because between its own failures, its own loss of moral compass, and its own fear of retribution, it is a de facto arm of the Trump campaign.

  2. not a mystery of what’s behind the mainstream media grousing about they’re not getting enough exclusive interviews from harris/walz: commercials don’t get seen by the increased viewership such shows would bring.

    instead of accusing them of running away from letting the public know more about them, how about better covering a lot more of the many times kamala and tim answer questions from local journalists and ordinary folks in the crowds at the rope line, in the audiences, at the fairs and at all those mom&pop cafes or ice cream shops? 

  3. CNN Interview

    by Jeff Darcy, cleveland.com

    CLEVELAND, Ohio — During their bus trip in Georgia, the Democratic Presidential ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz stopped for their first joint interview with CNN’s Dana Bash.
    Neither Harris or Walz said anything to hurt their campaign as they answered questions from Bash for an hour. If they had given the following answers or statements it should have been sufficient to win them votes and the election in a landslide:
    “We’re not the ones who have been convicted of 34 felonies.”
    “Neither of us is the candidate who was found liable of sexual assault in New York City.”
    “We did not instigate the Jan 6 insurrection attack-attempted coup at the U.S. Capitol that resulted in the death of 7 people including 4 law enforcement officers.”
    “Our supporters did not construct gallows in front of the U.S. Capitol to hang Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
    “We did not repost vulgar sexual messages about the sitting Vice President and Hillary Clinton that would have gotten us fired from most companies, not nominated for President/Vice President.
    “We did not get deferments from military service on a bogus bone spur diagnosis, defame soldiers and veterans then violate federal law by posing for campaign photos at Arlington giving a thumbs up.”
    “We’re moving forward, not back to a fake tan felon !”

  4. LP’s sample of fair and balanced coverage of both campaigns at a bakery counter

    Only one ticket handles the issue of sweet treats with the respect it deserves.

     

  5. lol. Pastry isn’t that hard. Juggling geopolitical relations is. …whatever makes sense wouldn’t do it. 

  6. Just a thought that Harris campaign has the option of bringing up things like the alleged Egyptian bribe, an important story the Washington Post broke but it hasn’t gotten picked up much by others. Even something as small as a tweet (twixt) by Harris would get coverage and force a response from Trump campaign, and kickstart a discussion. 

  7. craig, thanks for linking the goldberg tiktok .  here’s the transcript of that segment in 8/30 wash. week with his comment in full and the responses of montanaro and coppins:

    JEFFREY GOLDBERG: And that’s where Trump is comfortable playing.
    I want to talk about, I’ll call it plainly, a double standard that we have in this campaign. We’re sitting here parsing, as we should, what the Democratic nominee for president says in an interview, how she answers questions about a whole range of subjects. Meanwhile, this is what Donald Trump had to say this week.
    DONALD TRUMP (R), Former U.S. President, 2024 Presidential Nominee: Groceries, food has gone up at levels that nobody’s ever seen before. We’ve never seen anything like it, 50, 60, 70 percent. You take a look at bacon and some of these products, and some people don’t eat bacon anymore. And we are going to get the energy prices down. When we get energy down, you know, this was caused by their horrible energy, wind. They want wind all over the place. But when it doesn’t blow, we have a little problem.
    JEFFREY GOLDBERG: Here’s the thing. I’ll make this observation. I’ll own it. If Kamala Harris went from bacon to wind in her interview with Dana Bash, she would, this morning, not be — the next morning, she would not be the nominee of the Democratic Party. That would have been a very, very strange — people would have been like, what is going on? Do we just have an absurdly low standard now for the things that Donald Trump says and does?
    DOMENICO MONTANARO: I think that there is definitely a double standard, and I think part of it is how each side’s voters interpret their candidate. And someone like Donald Trump, Republicans have had the opportunity for years to say this is not the guy we want. Instead, they’ve continued to get behind him. In every primary that Donald Trump weighs in on, he wins, and then the general election a lot of those candidates tend to lose.
    I think that from reporter’s standpoint, we do have to be careful about how we — what level we hold both of them to. When I fact-checked Donald Trump’s hour press conference, he told 162 lies and distortions within that time period, 2.5 a minute, compared to Kamala Harris’ DNC acceptance speech, where she had 12 statements that I found were contextually misleading or needed more.
    JEFFREY GOLDBERG: Okay.
    MCKAY COPPINS: And it’s not just his own voters. I think that, broadly speaking, most Americans have it baked into their perception of Donald Trump that he’s rambling, that he’s incoherent, that he lies, that he goes off on these bizarre outlandish tangents. It’s fundamental to the understanding of who Donald Trump is. It’s why, by the way, when we were all talking earlier this year about Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and a lot of Democrats, I think, understandably were like, well, why aren’t we talking about Donald Trump’s cognitive decline? It’s because from the very moment he entered the political scene, he’s sounded a little crazy to a lot of people.

  8. if the corporate media did their job the race wouldn’t be close and if the race wasn’t close people wouldn’t watch the news
     
    bonus: not doing their job is easier 👍

  9. The Alito Surge is growing.

    NYT: “Abortion is now roughly tied with immigration as swing state voters’ most important issue. For women younger than 45, abortion has overtaken the economy as the single most important issue to their vote.”

  10. Yes, Goldberg deserves credit for being an industry leader in holding Trump accountable. And Washington Post gets credit for breaking that Egypt story. Not their fault it fell into a rabbit hole.

  11. https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/isaac-hayes-family-due-in-court-trump-campaign-lawsuit-song-usage/85-3f60bf5d-951e-45f3-b595-be696792843c

    “Attorneys and family of the late singer Isaac Hayes Jr. will be in court on Tuesday in Atlanta after suing former President Donald Trump and his campaign for using his song “Hold On, I’m Coming.” 

    “The legal action first became known in August when Hayes’ son took to X and stated that the family was suing Trump and the campaign for 134 counts of copyright infringement for the unauthorized use…”

    10 am. Judge Thrasher. Atlanta, GA.

  12. IMHO it’s not really about abortion per se but about the fear that all things reproductive such as contraceptives, IVF, privacy of medical records are at stake for women. 

  13. Ivy & BiD, in re your pursuit to change the hearts and minds of the magaTs in your life

    How do you solve a problem like a MAGA? More dangerous than Maria to these Sound of Music Nuns. The answer? VOTE!

  14. For reproductive freedom to get more men under 45 on board, just mention the loss of birth control medication and the potential child support they would owe.   Lincoln Project needs to do an ad about that!

    I do hope the media brings up the alleged Egyptian bribe, etc., but the evening news on the big, three networks (which is the only thing most who don’t really pay attention will see) doesn’t even make much noise about Project 2025 which, by the way, will end them.   Last night, the ~hard hitting~ news from ABC, was that the Titanic had lost another bit of railing.  WTAF? 

    And, I know it’s fair season and good makes candidates seem folksy (except for JD, who can not shed his douchiness long enough to order a friggin donut), but following them around with a camera and a mic while they eat, order, or serve food is not journalism unless the topic was to find out who was at the local fair and what were they doing.

  15. Republican focus group pollster Sarah Longwell on swing voters (‘Morning Joe’):

    “People are bored by Trump. They’re bored with all of the drama, they’re tired of the insults, they’re tired of the lies about the election… They’re interested in a new pitch, and that’s what Kamala Harris has for them.”

  16. Yes, Craig, folks have chaos fatigue.  The clowns were never funny. Pack up the MAGAt circus tent and go away. 
    Will Orange Adolf show at the debate? 

  17. And how many planes did Dumbass meet at Joint Base Andrews when they returned the soldiers’ remains to the US? I’m guessing the number is the first single digit.

  18. Interviewer:  How many trumpers does it take to change a light bulb?
    [Long pause]
    trumper:   Change it to whut?

  19. I believe some if not most do not grasp the situation in Israel. Joe Scarborough is best at explaining it, how Netanyahu financed Hamas to cause a split which weakened the PLO, years ago.  How Netanyahu’s neglect at defending the boundaries allowed terrorists to breach the borders and kidnap and murder Israelites on October 7.  And of course now, blood is on both the hands of Hamas leaders and Netanyahu with the execution of 6 hostages just mere days ago. Netanyahu for refusing a cease-fire and a subsequent release of all 107 hostages. Now 101, and a defiant Netanyahu goes on television with crude maps defending IDF actions around the Philadelphia Crossing.
    Scarborough also told of something the MSM is totally ignoring, the terror of the settlers in The West Bank, as Joe pointed out, that area is looking like Gaza. Those Israelites are terrorists, forcing Palestinians off their land, burning out olive groves, burning down houses!  Bulldozing whole blocks and seizing the land…and hardly a word is said.  At least Joe S. tries to inform us of that devastation.  
    One more thing…Longwell was right…we are all real damn sick of Trump, all manner and form…sick of that rapist.

  20. Brilliant, Pat, thanks! I can’t do a better job of convincing them than their own dear leader is doing himself with his repeated eff-ups. Hopefully, he will keep effing up because that’s the only thing he knows how to do. That has to be his strategy now because anything else would make him look weak. Weakness is Strength. 

  21. My hypothesis for Plumpty’s disappearing act on Labor Day is simple: botox. He has to look spiffy for his upcoming debate appearance and he has to allow time for the swelling at the injection sites to go down. 

  22. Dex, my explanation last October to my friend whose son was then deployed in the Middle East was similarly succinct: Netanyahu bribed Hamas to leave Israel alone, they took the money, then stabbed him in the back anyway.

  23. Craig… she’s going to the sea coast.  I’m in the White Mountains on vacation.
    We won’t be crossing paths… but thanks for the heads up.

  24. NH doesn’t have much seacoast – a mere 13 miles – with a nuclear power station in Seabrook, on the Massachusetts border.  She should do quick stops in Durham and Manchester, both of which are both within an hour’s drive of Portsmouth, which is where she’ll be.

  25. It’s caused me to put the .38 back into the glove compartment like Flatus advised, lo those man yeas ago.

  26. https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/03/politics/jimmy-mccain-decries-trump-arlington-appearance/index.html

    “Exclusive: John McCain’s son decries Trump appearance at Arlington as a ‘violation’ that turned cemetery into campaign backdrop”

    “It just blows me away,” McCain, who has served in the military for 17 years, told CNN. “These men and women that are laying in the ground there have no choice” of whether to be a backdrop for a political campaign, he said.

    “I just think that for anyone who’s done a lot of time in their uniform, they just understand that inherently — that it’s not about you there. It’s about these people who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the name of their country.”

    “McCain’s decision to speak out now is part of his broader shift away from the Republican Party and his family’s famously conservative roots. After years as a registered independent, he says he registered as a Democrat several weeks ago and plans to vote for Kamala Harris in November, adding that he “would get involved in any way I could” to help her campaign.”

  27. well, well, well, ask and ye shall receive.  thanks, rep. raskin.

    Trump’s alleged acceptance of Egyptian funds probed by House Democrats (thehill.com)

    House Democrats have launched a probe into former President Trump’s alleged acceptance of $10 million from the Egyptian government during his 2016 presidential campaign, as well as whether allies quashed a subsequent investigation into the matter.
    Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, sent a letter following reporting from The Washington Post that found the Egyptian government withdrew $10 million in funds shortly after Trump made a last-minute injection of the same amount of his own funds to his campaign in the last few days of the 2016 election.
    [continues]

  28. “…indicted for election interference in 2020, WHICH I HAD EVERY RIGHT TO DO…”
    and this passes in the wind when if things were perfect, Trump would be hauled in and charged with yet another crime.  Nobody seems to give a damn about this. An admittance of this crime sails away like a dried leaf in a hurricane force wind.  

  29. https://abcnews4.com/news/nation-world/judge-rules-donald-trump-campaign-cannot-use-classic-isaac-hayes-r-and-b-song-hold-on-im-coming-without-license-election-2024-emergency-preliminary-injunction-copyright-work-cease-and-desist-licensing

    “Judge rules Trump campaign cannot use classic Isaac Hayes song without license”

    “According to CNN, Judge Thomas Thrash Jr. said in court “I do order Trump and his campaign to not use the song without proper license.”

    “However, the judge denied a motion to force the Trump campaign to take down any previously recorded uses of the song.”

    “Ronald Coleman, an attorney for Donald Trump, said during a news conference “that out of consideration for the sentiments of the Hayes family and in order to avoid further litigation” the song will no longer be played.”

    ~So considerate~

    “The son of Isaac Hayes, Isaac Hayes III, stated after the hearing that he wants the decision by the judge “to serve as an opportunity for other artists to come forward that don’t want their music used by Donald Trump or other political entities, and continue to fight for music artists rights and copyright.”

  30. Labor Day is so different now, it makes me feel old.  First of all school starts for many in August.
    School was always the Tuesday after Labor Day.  And the County Fair was free for kids on Labor Day.
    Unions sponsored big picnics definitely family events.  When I was in high school I spent the day in th
    parking lots, asking if they would like a yard sign and could we put on a bumper sticker.
    It was the end of summer no matter what the calendar or weather said.
     

  31. that hogan vid lends itself in some segments to be used by the RVAT folk in their anti-trump ads.

    had to chuckle over an imagined harris cabinet with Walz and Hogan in it:  visually like a tweedle dee and tweedle dum set jollying up the place.  bet they got along great at the national gov meetings. 

     will we ever have again those bipartisan friendships like the  biden mccain one? 

  32. https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/03/us/linda-sun-former-hochul-staff-arrest/index.html

    “Linda Sun, a former deputy chief of staff to Hochul, was charged with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registrations Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling and money laundering conspiracy, according to an unsealed copy of the indictment.”

    “Her husband and co-defendant, Chris Hu, was also charged with money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit bank fraud as well as misusing means of identification, prosecutors said.”
     
    Now, do tRUMPsky and all of the Russian agents (or tools) around him.

  33. Ivy, since the deal was made pre-election and unless statute of limitations limits it, he would be charged as a private citizen breaking the law even though the pay off came during the presidency.  no need for another impeachment or worry about the supreme’s immunity decision getting in the way.

  34. So over the texts asking for which candidate I’m voting.  I don’t trust that it’s actually from Dems, and if it is, I suspect it will take me to a donation link.    Deleting and reporting as junk.  Still get the occasional fake (I suspect) donate to “HUMILIATE” using Obama’s name.

  35. KGC, and before long it’ll be pumpkin time, when they show up at road sign stands. That’s how I determine fall has come. In politics that’s when hearth and home kicks in, and people get a little more conservative, lean Republican. Pumpkin time scares me in election years.

  36. It’s different this time, Craig.  Roe. Project 2025. Harris. Walz.  It’s different this time.  Worried more about the violence after Adolf loses.
    Still wondering how he’ll try to get out of the debate, and his sentencing this month? 

  37. Hogan is a republican (small “r”), not a full magat.  A vote for him in Maryland is a vote to let 2025 take over our government.  Never vote any party except Democratic. Vote Blue.  Nobody except true Blue should be in government anymore.

  38. Deleting and reporting as junk.

    bId, same here. 30330 is the only one I click. 

    An email I received from the campaign said they don’t expect me to donate to every email. That’s a relief to know, lol.

  39. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/09/how-elon-musk-is-tying-his-love-for-trump-to-his-fight-in-brazil/

    “Now Musk is interweaving his feud with Brazil with his ever-growing boosterism of Donald Trump, warning that if the former president isn’t reelected, America will become just like Brazil.”
     
    “Musk has also directly linked his Brazilian feud with the need to defeat Kamala Harris, retweeting and agreeing with the account End Wokeness, who wrote, “Kamala supports what Brazil just did to X. How do I know? She wants to do it here.” The clip the account linked to is an interview Harris did with CNN’s Jake Tapper in 2019, where she said that Donald Trump has “lost his privileges” in his use of Twitter and his account “should be taken down” by the company. These remarks were made during a period when Trump was heavily using the platform during his impeachment proceedings to engage in what Democrats called witness intimidation.”
     
    Can someone who has become a US citizen be deported?  Please? 
     
     

  40. It’s actually kind of nice the Harris campaign doesn’t compel people to give more than they can, as opposed to the endless grifting and scamming of the vulnerable by the trump cadre

  41. Rob Wood
    I remember my big sister’s first day of Kindergarten in 1967 (I was 3). My sister was crying so my mom beat her (and me) with a belt in front of her teacher and the rest of the students. No one said anything. MAGA misses those days

  42. https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/03/texas-voter-registration-applications-ken-paxton-bexar-county/
     
    “Bexar County will mail voter registration forms, defying Ken Paxton’s threat to sue”

    “Harris County leaders are weighing a similar plan, and Paxton warned the two counties against such efforts Monday evening, claiming they would run afoul of state law and risk adding noncitizens to the voter rolls.”

    “Rebuffing those claims, Bexar County Commissioners Court approved a $393,000 outreach contract with Civic Government Solutions following three hours of fervent discussion at Tuesday’s court meeting. Local GOP activists spent more than an hour blasting the deal as an illegal waste of taxpayer money and insisting it would be used to disproportionately register Democrats, citing past comments from the firm’s leaders indicating support for Democratic candidates.”

    The only way Republicans can win is if they cheat.

  43. The nuns had secret implements that could be whipped out from under the habit without warning. I think they were collapsible pointers with rubber tips.  

  44. My first-grade teacher pulled me into a supply closet and smacked me with a ruler because I colored a cat the wrong color, and I needed to learn to follow written instructions.  I ran home crying and my abusive step-mother marched over to the school with me to scold the teacher for show. Some folks shouldn’t be around kids.

  45. The end of spanking in our house came when I asked my father mid paddle if he thought I was a rubber ball.  since he could no longer spank without laughing. It was over.

  46. https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/03/americas/christmas-venezuela-october-maduro-intl-latam/index.html

    “Maduro decrees Christmas will start in October as Venezuela cracks down on dissent”
     
    “This year and to honor you all, to thank you all, I am going to decree the beginning of Christmas on October 1. Christmas arrived for everyone, in peace, joy and security!” he said.

    “Maduro’s decree – not the first of its kind, but the earliest – comes as Venezuela grapples with the fallout from July’s presidential election, which saw Maduro claim a third term despite global skepticism and outcry from the country’s opposition movement.”

    “Just a few hours before Maduro’s announcement, Venezuelan authorities published an arrest warrantfor his main rival, opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, accusing him of “crimes associated with terrorism.” 
     
     
    “The opposition coalition backing Gonzalez insists the presidential vote was stolen, publishing online vote tally sheets, which experts say indicate Maduro actually lost the presidency by a significant margin.”

    “The US and other neighboring governments have demanded that Venezuelan authorities reveal granular voting data to verify the outcome. US authorities this week also announced the seizure of a Venezuelan plane used by Maduro for international travel.”

    “Protests over the vote in the streets of Venezuela have been fiercely repressed. Some 2,400 people have been arrested, and many others are now fleeing the country. Some are hiding in their homes, telling CNN they are afraid to step foot outside due to intimidation by government supporters.”

    “He has also endorsed what is informally referred to as “Operation Knock-Knock” – a play on the name of a popular Venezuelan Christmas song, repurposed to evoke the sound of government security services knocking on critics’ doors. “Knock Knock! Don’t be a crybaby … You’re going to Tocorón (a jail)” Maduro shouted at a rally last month.”

    “This is not the first time Maduro has extended the official national period of Christmas celebration, which in Venezuela often comes with extra bonuses for public employees and more lavish gifts in government handouts.”

  47. https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/02/politics/us-seizes-venezuela-president-maduros-airplane/index.html
    “The United States has seized Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro’s airplane after determining that its acquisition was in violation of US sanctions, among other criminal issues. The US flew the aircraft to Florida on Monday, according to two US officials.”
    “This sends a message all the way up to the top,” one of the US officials told CNN. “Seizing the foreign head of state’s plane is unheard-of for criminal matters. We’re sending a clear message here that no one is above the law, no one is above the reach of US sanctions.”
     
    K

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