dagblog - Comments for "This Dumb Election"

But actually Trump wasn't the

PeraclesPlease — Sat, 22 Oct 2016 14:41:36 +0000

But actually Trump wasn't the only one - during the Republican primaries, they were *all* letting their hair down more than in past years.

And as long as they were hanging around the Republican tent, they could all pretend that they were just expressing mainstream opinion - just Donald being more direct than the others, willing to go that extra step. (Though wasn't Fiorina pushing that false abortion video the hardest? These people got problems.)

Once they got out of the Republican echo chamber, especially getting called "deplorable", some got to self-examine a bit.

[Pence is a good example of the standard GOP trick of speaking horrid rhetoric in calm boring tones so you almost think he's being adult, reasonable and not hateful. Trump partnering with him and then walking all over his schtick is unusual, just as was calling out George W. Bush for *not* protecting the country when the right had pretended for 15 years that letting 9/11 happen was somehow bold - probably Donald's better truth-to-power statements were against recent Republican cant, not against Liberalism which tended to just sound typically unhinged and oblivious to any facts]

I appreciate the silver

moat — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 23:55:41 +0000

In reply to This Dumb Election

I appreciate the silver lining you provide.
You are right. The Republicans have become so policy free in this cycle that there is nothing to compromise with. They ended their nomination process by opening cans of dog food like Gibson did in that Mad Max movie.

Go, Democratic Senate Majority.

Right on MikeM.

Richard Day — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 18:57:57 +0000

In reply to This Dumb Election

Right on MikeM.

Again, And I keep saying it over and over again, Cruz and Rubio and Walker and so many other repubs would have done much better and then screwed us all. hahahahah

Bernie kept Hillary honest and what a guy!

We must check in next week when we have 12 days left.

But it is looking goooooooooood. I still do not think we can get the House. But damn, a Senate with Kaine presiding will help us a lot.

Hell, give us one or two more!

Anyway I am elated that this has so far become a silly election.

But my ballot is in the mail.

LET US PRAY AND NOT PREY.

Very good point

Michael Wolraich — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 18:00:22 +0000

In reply to Trump didn't 'prevail'

Very good point

Trump didn't 'prevail'

NCD — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 16:07:00 +0000

In reply to This Dumb Election

Trump didn't 'prevail' because of his 'sheer force of his personality'. Trump's personality is execrable.

Which has only recently become obvious to the Trumpian uninitiated in the nation and the world, but was clear to many women, contractors, investors and suckers fleeced in his various scams.

Failing to mention race, racism, hate or lies in discussing this election omits the elephant in the room. A very nasty part of this election. A part that objective observers must now see is crystal clear.

A large part of the GOP base is not only uninformed, living in a Fox News/hate radio ideological bubble, near imbecilic in conspiracy beliefs, but also angry racists.

The GOP uses all of these factors to exploit them for votes, and then leaves them high and dry as the GOP cuts taxes on the rich, further widening the nation's wealth inequality.

Krugman's take on why Trump was nominated from today's NYT:

Mr. Trump won the nomination because he gave his party’s base what it wanted, channeling the racial antagonism that has been the driving force for Republican electoral success for decades. All he did was say out loud what his rivals were trying to convey with dog whistles, which explains why they were so ineffective in opposing him.

It may well be that 2012 was

Michael Maiello — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 14:38:33 +0000

In reply to Amen, brother. You said it.

It may well be that 2012 was just about the issues I pay more attention to, but I remember it being a referendum on Obama's handling of the Financial Crisis and, because of the credit downgrade in 2011, debt management and the sequester.

Ah, 2012. Those were the days. Foodies. The iPhone 4S. Millenials with headphones ignoring you in the office... A simpler, better time. I'm going to make America 2012 again.

Amen, brother. You said it.

Michael Wolraich — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 14:23:00 +0000

In reply to This Dumb Election

Amen, brother. You said it.

(And yet, it has been exciting, hasn't it? Much more fun than 2012. Did we discuss anything important in 2012? I don't remember. They say Americans have short memories.)