93 thoughts on “Madman Theory”

  2. Napoleon was arguably less insane, but he came to the same end because so many in the world came together to bust his chops.

  3. D’ump belongs in an asylum?  or about to seek asylum elsewhere?

    last night oliver spoke on another type of asylum and others who are desperately seeking it

    With the 2020 election underway, John Oliver explains how the Trump administration has handled asylum seekers over the past four years, why it matters, and what we can do about it.

  5. New polls released over the weekend show that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is enjoying slight leads or is tied in several key states that President Donald Trump won in 2016. A poll released Sunday by the Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tylershows Biden ahead in Texas with 48 percent of likely voters, compared to 45 percent for Trump. That advantage is within the poll’s margin of error, but still a turnaround from September, when Trump was two points ahead of Biden. The keys to Biden’s turnaround in Texas are increased support among independents as well as a surge in support from Hispanics. While in September, Biden had a 30-point lead among Latinos, that has now increased to 48 points, or 69 percent compared to 21 percent for Trump.

     
    https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/10/polls-biden-edge-florida-north-carolina-texas.html

  7. as for the madness of D’ump, here’s a krugman op ed from july in NYTimes:

    The Deadly Delusions of Mad King Donald
    I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling more and more as if we’re all trapped on the Titanic — except that this time around the captain is a madman who insists on steering straight for the iceberg. And his crew is too cowardly to contradict him, let alone mutiny to save the passengers.
    A month ago it was still possible to hope that the push by Donald Trump and the Trumpist governors of Sunbelt states to relax social distancing and reopen businesses like restaurants and bars — even though we met none of the criteria for doing so safely — wouldn’t have completely catastrophic results.
    At this point, however, it’s clear that everything the experts warned was likely to happen, is happening. …
    […]
    A normal president and a normal political party would be horrified by this turn of events. They would realize that they made a bad call and that it was time for a major course correction; they would start taking warnings from health experts seriously.
    But Trump, who began his presidency with a lurid, fact-challenged rant about “American carnage,” seems completely untroubled by the toll from a pandemic that seems certain to kill more Americans than were murdered over thewhole of the past decade. …
    [continues]

     

    and remember, trail friends, that was written in july — 100,000 less covid deaths ago — d’ump is not merely mad but murderously so

  8. Mark Meadows:

    ”We’re not going to control the pandemic,” Meadows said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigations.”

    Well,  Mark, no, you’re not. All the government can do is pump research and production dollars into the effort to find vaccines, therapeutics and other PREVENTIVE mitigation’s and make them widely available. What of those is D’umpco doing, exactly?

  9. Also nappy was smart enough at one point to have a nice warm dog sled ready for a clean get away.  So sorry about those several hundred thousand dead French pawns, er, uh,  soldiers.
    But did he learn? Nope. And Waterlulu loomed.

  10. YouTube thumbnail

    Hee HawTommy Williams And Roy Clark Bonaparte’s Retreat live on Hee Haw Bonaparte’s Retreat” is the name of two related songs. The original was a wordless melody that existed as various fiddle tunes dating back to at least the late 1800s and probably well before that. In 1950, American country music artist Pee Wee King recorded a modified version of the song, with lyrics added, which he also called “Bonaparte’s Retreat”. This latter song has been covered by many country artists. The title of the original “Bonaparte’s Retreat” is an apparent reference to Napoleon Bonaparte’s disastrous retreat from Russia in 1812, and some earlier British folk songs told of that event. In 1937, American ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, while travelling through Kentucky, recorded violinist William Hamilton Stepp playing “Bonaparte’s Retreat”. This recording was inducted in 2016 into the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry. Bonaparte’s Retreat lyrics

  11. Holy crap ! Read this one folks –
     

    In a tidal wave of political engagement,almost 7 million Texans have already cast a ballot during the general election, the vast majority in-person. The numbers are propelling what is historically one of the lowest voter turnout states to the topof the nation’s leaderboard in terms of the sheer number of people who have voted thus far. That groundswell of participation is even more striking in context, as democratic hurdles remain ever-present at the polls while fears of Covid-19 also loom large.
    “What we’re seeing is that Texans will crawl through broken glass to be able to make sure their voices are heard this election,” saidAbhi Rahman, communications director for the Texas Democratic party.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/26/us-election-texas-leading-country-early-voting

  14. The media is abuzz with Joe’s fracking comments and subsequent attempts to clarify his position.Yes, it’s a garbled message, complicated by a freshman representative who loves to get airtime.  Clarify the stance, Joe, but the trajectory is clear – move away from fossil fuels – it will be done by guidelines set by scientists (remember them?) and implemented by regulations reflecting Congress’ will  in regulations that are more restrictive than those under D’ump’s stupid executive orders that treat climate change with the same lack of seriousness they (and he) treat a global pandemic that he has botched our country’s response to.  This is not as obtuse as the media is trying to make it. 

  16. …and the WH just threw their hands in the air and gave up trying to save American lives from COVID.  Admitted total incompetence- unbelievable.
     
    RUN THEM OUTTA TOWN

  19. McConnell bragging that the Barrett appointment can’t be stopped.  Of course this will be the first time in US history that a Supreme Court seat was named between July and November in an election year.  She will become a Justice due to hypocrisy, lies, and cheating.  Every decision will be tainted by this action.  

  20. The  Fracing story –

    The International Energy Agency has a long history in fossil fuels. It is not the first, second, or third organization that would come to mind when thinking of renewable energy bulls or fans. However, its latest report indicates that solar power is now the “cheapest electricity in history.”
    The International Energy Agency (IEA) said much more than this in its 464-page World Energy Outlook 2020, but when it comes down to it, this is the line that matters most. The past decade has shown tremendous growth in solar power and wind power worldwide, but the next decade is where they’ll really shine, because the key crossover points have now occurred (like solar becoming cheaper than every other electricity source, on average) or will soon occur (like electricity from new solar power plants becoming cheaper than electricity from existing fossil fuel power plants).

     
    ” Video killed the radio star ”

    Solar Power = “Cheapest Electricity In History”


     

  21. Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham‘s prospects of retaining his seat are declining as he looks to stave off his better-funded Democratic challenger, Jaime Harrison, according to a recent election forecast.
    According to The Economist’s forecast for the race, Graham’s chance of winning is 59 percent, dipping compared to his numbers in recent months. This indicates a marked decline since mid-September, when his chances were put at 70 percent.

     
    https://www.newsweek.com/lindsey-graham-jaime-harrison-south-carolina-forecast-1542047

  22. This COVID-19 stuff is just too hard for D’umpco.  Aside from having the top two executive offices of the country experience outbreaks in the past month, the trend lines are in the wrong direction.  Today the following from Wapo:

    New daily reported cases rose 19.6% 
    New daily reported deaths rose 11.4% 
    Covid-related hospitalizations rose 10.7% 

    Among reported tests, the positivity rate was 6.2%.
    The number of tests reported rose 5.5%

    See how that’s working?  Reported cases are increasing just under 4 times the rate of additional tests – which blows a huge hole in Dumbass’ argument that cases are only increasing because of our beautiful powerful testing that’s more that anyone else in the world.  And deaths and hospitalization increases are around twice the rate of test increases (although those metrics aren’t necessarily dependent on testing).  Please tell me that more than half the country is smart enough to understand this. No wonder Dumbass doesn’t want people to vote on the basis of his botched response to Covid.

  25. Coal baron Murray, a Trump ally who fought environmental regulation, dead at 80
     

    While Murray applied for black lung benefits, bankruptcy enabled his company to avoid obligations to employees diagnosed with black lung, shifting its $74.4 million liability to the federal government’s Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, according to Labor Department estimates provided to Congress.

     
    https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-coal-murray/coal-baron-murray-a-trump-ally-who-fought-environmental-regulation-dead-at-80-idUSL1N2HH0N2
     
    Aidos you fat little troll. 

  29. Biden stretches lead over Trump in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania: poll
     

    In Michigan, Biden leads by 10 points, 52 to 42. Five percent of voters remain undecided. The same poll from September found Biden with a 6-point advantage. 
    The poll from Wisconsin finds Biden leading 53 to 44, with 3 percent undecided. Biden’s 9-point advantage is up from 4 points in September.
    The closest state is Pennsylvania, where Biden leads 52 to 44, with 3 percent undecided. Biden has grown his lead from 4 points in September to 8 points now. 

     
    https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/522718-biden-stretches-lead-over-trump-in-mich-wis-and-penn-poll

     

  30. I wonder if Phony Barrett will call Clarence Thomas a nigger. She thinks it is a term of endearment

  34. ⭐️Phony Barrett had a court case where her opinion was calling someone a nigger at work does not constitute a hostile workplace

  35. After Obama’s FL trip tomorrow he should go to Texas, maybe 2 days in a row. Early vote demo there shows it’s his young non-white coalition, not Biden’s white college/non-college strength making the difference in Texas. Keep Joe in the Rust Belt and GA, FL, NC. Barack closes TX. 

  36. Trump needs to say he is winning so he can claim he was cheated
    Jason Miller ugh slimy liar for Trump

  37. Jason Miller said dems are not returning their ballots. Yet in the previous segment the news was dems are voting in overwhelming numbers.  No challenge to the slimy Miller’s statement. This guy was fired from the 2016 trump gypsy caravan for impregnating half the staff
     

  41. [Coney-] Barrett had a court case where her opinion was calling someone a [racial epithet] at work does not constitute a hostile workplace“ 

    The Founding Fathers agreed with that opinion, and she is an originalist 🤷‍♂️

  44. There is nothing wrong with using the actual epithet. As long as you do it in the workplace according to phony Barrett.  I think it is lame to never use the word when it demonstrates behavior. It’s too precious and coy

  46. LP have been busy bees lately.  here they’re helping you prepare for the next encounter with recalcitrant relatives and other d’umpsters

  48. “ lame… too precious and coy”
     
    Hey, that’s a rather accurate description of me!  if the shoe fits🤷‍♂️

  49. Black Americans are fired up and flocking to the polls
     

    (CNN)Dave Richards arrived at his polling place before dawn, carrying a blue lawn chair and a giant bottle of water.

    It was about 6 a.m. on October 12 — the first day of early voting in Georgia — and the business consultant was ready for a long wait in the Atlanta suburb of Smyrna. After three hours in line, Richards, 51, voted in what he called the most crucial election of his lifetime.
    “This election is more important than the 2008 one for Barack Obama. That 2008 one was for change and making history. This election is for saving the US,” Richards said, citing concerns about racial justice and suppression of Black voters. “The racial divide that is going on, we need someone who is going to be a leader for everyone, not just their base.”
    Across the country, Black voters are turning out in huge numbers. The stakes this year are especially high, they say, and nothing less than their health and safety is on the ballot.
    https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/26/politics/black-voter-turnout-election-trnd/index.html

  51. Started my 72nd winter  today , a three day ice storm here.  Scraped the car windshield twice  today. 
    Winter is only good for having parties where  you know you’ll be snowed-in for several days.  And the place has a sauna .

    SALT LAKE CITY — Talk about Octobrr.

    The temperature at the Salt Lake City International Airport dropped to 19 degrees Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service. That reading snapped the record for coldest Oct. 26 below the city’s record of 22 degrees set 142 years ago in 1878.

  52. As of today we’re at the point in 2016 when the “Comey factor” plunged Hillary’s national lead down to 3pts and an Electoral College defeat. Biden holding firm at 8pts and an EC victory. Looking good. 

  53. Now the #19  has reached all the those rural  places , and aid to the state and local  governments has been stalled .  Watch this thing chew up all those county budgets. 
    One hell of alot of  people working in state and local governments are  headed for the unemployment lines. 

  54. The older i become the less enamored I am of winter.  Anymore it just makes me cold and makes mornings warming them up a bit and clearing the cars of frost, ice, snow or no matter what else the night has brought, a pain in the ass. I once or twice in the past 52 years of driving had a usable garage in the winter –  I liked those garages. Maybe I’ll have another some day.

  55. I was going to use the term “Heartland” ,  but I hate that term in most all of it’s uses.
    There’s no “Kidneyland” 
    There’s no “Liverland”
    There’s no “Lower Intestineland” 
    There’s no “Lungland”
    But when we hear , the word, “Heartland” .
    That’s  a pretty loaded   thing , like somewhere  this hand full of rural priest’s   are carrying  the True Principles of American Democracy. 
     
    I’m waiting for a report on the wisdom of “Colonland”. 

  58. So one TV  station is running a  virtual costume contest  for a $200 Visa gift card.  I plan to enter my 35 year-old  effort –

    I was one of the “Eyes of Texas”.
     

  60. Blue –
    I’ve been thinking about all those  folks  that worked in  the tourist  game world wide. 
    Even if you land your jet in Aspen , that chain of  vehicles driving up the Roaring Fork every morning from Glenwood Springs. , ain’t making that trip anymore.  They all went broke months ago. 

  61. BWAHAHAHAHAHAH Not sure what flavor karma is, but I know it’s delicious.

    Eight days out from a presidential election, the president of Fox News and key members of the network’s election team have been told to quarantine after they were exposed to someone who tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

    Until they test negative for the virus three times in a row, the anchors will be broadcasting their shows from home, according to two people with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private health matters.

    The infected person was on a flight chartered to transport Fox News employees returning to New York from the Thursday night presidential debate in Nashville. The person tested negative before departing Nashville and positive after returning.

    Those on the flight included Jay Wallace, the network’s president; Bret Baier, the chief political anchor; Martha MacCallum, anchor of Fox’s nightly news show “The Story”; as well as two other members of the network’s election team, Juan Williams and Dana Perino, who are co-hosts of “The Five.”

    * * * * *
    Behind the scenes, Fox News has shown dedication to precautionary measures during the pandemic, including masks, social distancing and regular testing protocols.

    But that attitude has not always been reflected on the air. In February and March, in the early days of the pandemic, key prime-time hosts such as Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham frequently attributed concerns over the virus as a mere excuse for Democrats and media to attack President Trump.

    This Karma thing is working overtime in RW circles now.  

  63. A mask mandate  , Failure to comply –
    A you can dig  one Covid  grave , or work a shift  on a Covid ward , hauling the PPE  to the dumpsters. 
     

  65. Police arrested 11 people Sunday in New York City after fights erupted in Times Square as a large Jews for Trump convoy rolled through. Skirmishes broke out after some counterdemonstrators yanked flags off vehicles – and some drivers and passengers got out of their cars.
    The clashes were caught on video and posted to social media, showing frequent outbursts of violence as people shouted threats at each other. At least one car had red paint thrown on it.

    https://www.npr.org/2020/10/26/927798431/11-arrested-in-clashes-after-pro-trump-convoy-passes-through-nyc-s-times-square
     
     

  68. NEW Reuters/Ipsos Tracking Poll

    Wisconsin:

    Biden 53% (+9)

    Trump 44%

    Michigan:

    Biden 51% (+7)

    Trump 44%

    Pennsylvania: 

    Biden 50% (+5)

    Trump 45%

    Florida:

    Biden 50% (+4)

    Trump 46%

    Arizona:

    Biden 49% (+3)

    Trump 46%

    North Carolina:

    Biden 49% (+3)

    Trump 46%

    (LV, Oct. 20 – Oct. 26)

  73. Strug –
    Nice set of “Built-ins”.   Here’s yer “Atta Boy”,  have you ever been able to work  one of  those big old “sinker logs” ?
     

  75. There are 2 pillars  holding up the roof of the GOP. 
    A. They are all still mad that  their prom was disaster, or they didn’t get a date.
    B.  Their arrested emotional development  set in at about 13.  Which explains A. 

  76. I tend to think maybe we’ve turned the wrong corner…

    U.S. markets slumped Monday as investors grappled with uncertainty about economic stimulus negotiations and soaring coronavirus cases around the country.

    The Dow Jones industrial average fell 650 points, or 2.3 percent, to 27,686. The S&P 500 index tumbled nearly 1.9 percent to 3,401, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 1.6 percent, to 11,359. The sell-off erased all of the blue-chip index’s gains for October.

    The United States hit a record high in new coronavirus cases Friday, with more than 83,700 reported, according to data from Johns Hopkins. The resurgence is compounding volatility in the countdown to the presidential election, according to Craig Erlam, an analyst with OANDA.
    ***

    Investors have been closely tracking negotiations over a new round of emergency coronavirus relief, which would pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the U.S. economy. Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) signaled optimism that prolonged talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin would yield progress. Each day’s updates on the status of a roughly $2 trillion package coincided with ups and downs in the markets, as investors tried to divine the chances for a deal.

    On Friday, however, Mnuchin offered a downbeat assessment of the talks, noting that “significant differences” remain between the two sides. Pelosi had set an earlier, informal deadline to give Congress enough time to pass the legislation before Election Day. But that timetable is now seen as less likely.

    “The COVID-19 situation is worrying to investors because they are looking across the pond to Europe, where many countries are increasing stringency measures and implementing a variety of targeted lockdowns, and wondering if that is the future for the US as well,” said Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco. “This suggests fiscal stimulus is needed now more than ever, but it looks like it is not forthcoming any time soon. Add to that concerns about a contested election and you have a recipe for market gyrations and sell-offs.”

    With just eight days to go until the presidential election, former Vice President Joe Biden leads Trump by 9 percentage points nationally, 52 percent to 43 percent, according to an average of national polls since Oct. 12.

    The market slide also coincides with another covid-19 outbreak at the highest levels of U.S. government, infecting at least five aides or advisers to Vice President Pence, who leads the White House’s coronavirus task force.

    (Continues)

    So what part of all this is D’ump managing?  Looks to me like mismanaging would be the more appropriate term.

  81. It’s going to be a battleship gray closet in a guest bedroom.   The gray goes with the tile, which goes with something or other else.  

  82. An all-wheel drive  dumpster fire with a  chauffeur. 
    Typhoid Trump  comes to town , he whines , he makes you sick,  and he sticks you with his bill. 
    PT Barnum  is smiling ear to ear. 

  83. Amazing how you can stop thinking about all his shit for a little bit when you’re slappin’ some wood around.   I need to get a lot busier, in self defense.  

    Run some “Crazy Eddie” ads on tv.

    “Can I build you a new kitchen for a buck ninety-five?? You bet your ass I can!”

  85. There are 2 pillars  holding up the roof of the GOP. 
    A. They are all still mad that  their prom was disaster, or they didn’t get a date.
    B.  Their arrested emotional development  set in at about 13.  Which explains A. 

    A big percentage of the GOP come across as 14 year old boys who just got their hands on some pornography.  

  88. That egg he laid in Erie  the other night  was  perfect . A real Mr Merriweather  moment .
    He told them all the truth.  And they did not clap , chant , or boo. 
    They were stunned .
    He told them that the virus forced him to come back to Erie .  Otherwise he was done with them . 
    That was the most wasteful use of Jet-A  any president has burned in the entire history of the world. 
     
    It’s a clip floating around , he really did that. 

  90. Trust me folks Trump is not going to invade Poland.  He can’t even find it on GPS. 
    All them 14 year-old boys  with porn under the mattress  that now own AR-15’s. 
     
    They are a whole other ball of wax. 

  91. New Theory of the Election  ……………..
     
    The  “October Surprise” came in January , and every month after that , and now after all that , right on que  it finally hits  where it counts. 

  93. Craig

    I really appreciate your political insights! It makes me feel good. The polls are good but I’m so glad you have good feelings about a Biden/Harris win.😍

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