36 thoughts on “The Up is Down World”

  1. which person, an author of a famous dystopian novel or an infamous (once adjudicated rapist, twice impeached and four times indicted but currently leading GOP candidate) former president, said which quote:

    “what you’re seeing and what you’re reading. is not what’s happening”

    “the party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. it was their final, most essential command.”

  2. Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen joins Jen Psaki to discuss Trump taking the stand in New York fraud trial. He reveals a decade-old document he found that tells us a lot about Trump’s tactics today.

  3. click here to also see

    Rachel Maddow looks at Donald Trump’s larger project beyond his defense strategy in individual cases against him, to delegitimize the independent judiciary and the court system, effectively giving permission to himself and his followers to ignore the rule in law in favor of whatever Trump declares.

    and click here for
    ‘HE LOOKS LIKE A TODDLER’ Mary Trump DISMANTLES ‘IDIOT’ uncle after DISGUSTING ‘tough man’ defense

  4. Didn’t judge Julius Hoffman have Bobby Seale bound and gagged in the courtroom once upon a time?
    Just saying.Ā 

  5. Ruth Ben-Guiat
     
    We will look back on this and wish more people had understood that Biden is our bulwark of democratic freedoms and the alternative is worse than most Americans can imagine.

  6. Carville and Axelrod aren’t somehow now automatically proved to be ā€œwiseā€ just because their guys got elected in 08 and 92. Ā  Obama was the reason Obama got elected and Ross Perot is the reason Clinton got elected. Ā 
    Y’all go wait in the truck.

  7. Possibly Sturge, or maybe they’re miffed at not being included in Biden world. Don’t know about Carville, but going way back to the beginning of 2020 campaign I noticed Axelrod was iffy at best about Biden. I sensed they might not have gotten along in the Obama White House.

  8. Yesterday’s fiasco in NY got me thinking the Trump team is pulling a Chicago 7 – the anti-war protester trial where the defendants and lawyers made it a strategy to relentlessly taunt their right-wing hot-tempered judge to make so many mistakes that their convictions were all overturned on appeal. Although the judge yesterday almost took the bait (threatening to throw Trump off the stand for not answering questions to his satisfaction) it seems like he stopped short of reversible error, other than some injudicious comments. This looks to be the Trump strategy in other cases, such as goading Judge Chutkan in the DC insurrection case to issue a gag order that the Appeals Court has stayed pending the outcome. Ā Ā 

  9. Dr. Mary Trump is a good clinician. She brings my anxiety down a notch or two every time.

    Also from Lawrence last night. ā€œBecause Donald Trump is one of the very stupidest people to be charged with business fraud, and because his demonstrably ineffectual lawyers obviously do not have the skills to prepare their client for even the simplest and most obvious questions, Donald Trump incriminated himself and his children with the only one-word answer that he gave all day,ā€ O’Donnell said on Monday night.
    The word came in response to a question about who in the Trump Organization was responsible for preventing and detecting fraud.
    ā€œEverybody,ā€ Trump said.

  10. It’s really weird the way MTG and Boebert insist on trying to ACT smart instead of trying to BECOME smart. Ā 

    If I were a regular run-of-the-mill dumbass who somehow got elected to the House of Reps I’d have 5 or 6 Tutors on the payroll on day one.

    I know those Coloradians….they elected Boebert cause they thought it’d be a great joke. MTG got elected because she’s a carbon copy of her constituents. Either way they’re both a couple of sub-run-of-the-mill dumbasses.

  11. I think a state to watch in the returns tonight is Virginia.Ā  MAGA governor, MAGA House and Dem Senate.Ā  It will only take less than a handful of seats to swap out D’s and M’s from either chamber.Ā  If house and senate go M then it is game over for a purple Virginia.Ā  You will see the state tip over and slide away, with consequences in the future.Ā  However, if the chambers are D’s than one MAGA governor may have his presidential ambitions squashed down a little bit.

  12. Unless tonight brings sweeps in almost all states, and sweeps going the same direction, someone else will have to read the tea leaves tomorrow – too much data to crunch for my pea brain.Ā  maybe Steve Kornacki can shed light on it if the results are equivocal.

  13. Interesting thing I read about the NYT poll on Biden v Trump.
    When they ask the white Knight question against Trump. A generic Democrat beats Trump 48 to 40. So the Biden v Trump is a bit puzzling. One has to ask how much has to do with current events which has the left in a tizzy.Ā 
    Jack

  14. As to the talking heads trying to make themselves relevant (looking at you Carville ) it is time they STFU and got on board. At this late date they are part of the problem not part of the solution.
    But as Craig learned in his time at MSNBC, they get airtime for playing their role. They quit playing the role they get no air time.
    Aaaeei, it is the like smoking crack.
    Jack

  15. Meanwhile, my niece wants to buy a house and I offered to finance it for her. when dealing with a late 20 something person , it drive home, just how much I have learned in my life time.
    She falls in love with the pictures of these houses and I have to give her the bad news. In some ways it is a problem of champaign tastes on a beer budget.
    Jack

  16. https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/07/economy/americans-401k-plans-bill-payments/index.html

    ā€œAs Covid-era savings shrink, more and more consumers are turning to a costly way to borrow: Credit cards.ā€

    ā€œBank of America said the number of 401(k) participants taking hardship distributions increased by 27% from the first quarter of this year.ā€

    It’s the stupid economy.

    https://www.freep.com/story/money/personal-finance/susan-tompor/2023/11/07/low-income-baby-boomers-facing-a-stark-retirement-reaface-stark-retirement-dilemma-theyre-not-saving/71082316007/

    ā€œAnd people who haven’t seen steady pay raises find a greater portion of their paychecks going to cover everyday expenses.ā€

    ā€œOne point that came to light during the contentious UAW strike against the Detroit Three was how financially vulnerable many autoworkers feel today, given that those hired in the fall of 2007 and afterward no longer have a traditional pension.ā€

  17. Well, on a different platform of discourse, a post about how people were waiting in line for the elections people in Hinds County Mississippi went off to print more ballots, as the county had run out of them.Ā  I offered that the county, Hinds highest Black population in Mississippi, did not expect so many Black voters would make it through the barriers and be in line to vote.
    So a few of the comments came in as odd, they asked why I would think there were barriers. They asked if I knew why.Ā  Yup.Ā  They not be Dems.Ā Ā  I lived in Mississippi in the 70’s, what I experienced then was what is experienced now – the place does not change that much.

  18. Kentucky, where I’m going this weekend with my RW UK supporting buddy to watch Bama (hopefully) hand UK its ass, has decided to keep its Democratic governor and Ohio has decided to enshrine a right to choose in its constitution- all driven by suburban votes. Weaponize that shit, Joe. (Still waiting on VA)Ā 

  19. Re: GOP losses due to abortion restrictions and in my best bully from the Simpsons voice:
     
    ā€Ha Haā€

  20. Tomorrow, will be bookended with Ivanka’s testimony (second-hand, darn it) snd the GQP debate. Ā  I hope Lester and Kristin have great questions and can control the clock.

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