Posts Made By: James Brown

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

I think both Trump and Biden ought to have the cognitive tests. 

And, as far as "fussing" goes, did you not see the clown show at the GOP convention last night with various GOPers walking around with a "Trump bandage" on their ears?...

I did not.  I am not the CNN junky you are!  But so what?  Silly patriotic garb is normal at conventions.  Also, the delegates at the convention are Trump fan-boys and fan-girls.  I would expect mild silliness under the circumstances.

...Dual cognitive tests - split screen, each candidate in a sound proof room.  I'm on board!  That would be TV worth watching!

Still not sure why bullet v. shard matters.  A man died.  Trump was missed by inches or millimeters.  What is the point of the bullet v. shard thing?   The story is an assassination attempt, a tragedy for the deceased and a once in a generation security lapse.

You are aware that some on the rabid right think the lax security was intentional?  I do not think that.  I think gross, lose your job grade incompetence is underlying the security failures, not malfeasance.  But the Secret Service sure made it easy for the conspiracy nuts to spin themselves into high gear.

Originally Posted by Greg Shaffer

I will call that a debatable point.....regarding laxness.

What isnt debatable is whether the head of the SS should be GONE......using excuses like the roof the shooter was on was dangerously steep. I saw it, I could run on that roof LOL

I agree the sloped roof comment is insane.  This article has a lot of pictures, including of two FBI agents standing casually on the roof of the warehouse the shooter used.  

https://www.ft.com/content/9acf8ed0-9b32-49cc-99e0-dbcab449ad13?segmentId=b385c2ad-87ed-d8ff-aaec-0f8435cd42d9

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

Surprise, surprise...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIv5RyTxXqo

You have indeed reached a new low in sourcing Your comments, Rod.  You don’t actually believe this dude do you?

If you do, what do you want to bet that Cannon is not nominated to the Supreme Court if Trump get an opportunity to nominate someone in the next four years?

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

Well, Jim I'm merely pointing out that she has an advocate for the position who also happens to be powerful enough to remove a speaker from the house which is exactly what he did.

That said, I've read a promotion up to the appeals court is also being batted about...

Promotion to the court of appeals is possible, but still highly unlikely Until Cannon has more years on the job.

Originally Posted by James Lacey

I imagine Kamala would destroy Trump in a debate. She is no shrinking violet or an 80-year-old politician struggling with cognitive decline. Trump would, of course, lie like crazy, refuse ever actually to answer a question,  and possibly even claim Kamala slept her way to the top as Greg suggested. I hope Trump is stupid enough to do it. That would alienate so many educated and professional women who have had to endure that misogynist workforce trope and so many others.

I was hoping for some political drama as the Democrats select the best candidate from many possible choices. A quick review of the political press this morning seems to show that Biden’s designation of Harris as his successor is going to be honored for better or worse.

Originally Posted by James Lacey

I imagine Kamala would destroy Trump in a debate. She is no shrinking violet or an 80-year-old politician struggling with cognitive decline. Trump would, of course, lie like crazy, refuse ever actually to answer a question,  and possibly even claim Kamala slept her way to the top as Greg suggested. I hope Trump is stupid enough to do it. That would alienate so many educated and professional women who have had to endure that misogynist workforce trope and so many others.

Hi James: I agree 100%. But still, do you think there are any educated and professional women who are still thinking about voting for Trump?   You are right, of course that blatant misogyny, racism, sexism, or some other hateful line of commentary is going to be an easy trap for Trump to fall into and squander the goodwill he earned by surviving the assassination attempt.

Originally Posted by James Lacey

I wonder how much goodwill he even got. He squandered it almost immediately with his rambling way too long "unity" speech at the RNC. It was just more of the same old, same old—lies, grievances, mistruths, and attacks on immigrants.

I was doubtful Biden would resign and had even more misgivings about what it would do to the Democrats' chances of winning the election, but today is a new day. The Democratic base seems energized, which completely changes the election.

Here is a personal anecdote I think is interesting.  We are having some work done on our mountain place, and the three carpenters are all local guys in their late twenties or mid thirties.   Married with young kids.  They are not overtly politically dialed in, no bumper stickers or anything like that.  I have not asked if they are R, D, or even if they plan to vote.  This county is very mixed with the ranchers being very R and the raft guide and artist crowd being very D.  One carpenter is a former raft guide, and another is a hippy who lives in a bus, so I'm thinking that at least 2 outa 3 are D.  I am sure these carpenters did not watch the convention.   

But the other day, they were talking about how bad ass the AP photo of a defiant Trump was, with the bloodied ear and fist raised under the flag.  That photo pierced their bubbles, and one said he could not see Trump losing (to Biden of course at the time) after that photo made the rounds.   

This is an anecdote, not sound political analysis, but at least for these guys, Trump earned a lot of goodwill by the assassination attempt, and he did not squander it with his speech, since they, and I imagine a lot of voters, have better things to do with 90 minutes of their lives than watch an acceptance speech.  

I did not watch it but my brother did.  He thought the first 15 minutes were good for Trump, but it did not stop there.  Did Trump really claim he once stopped a war with a phone call?  And we thought Biden was delusional!  J

Originally Posted by Brian McFarland

If the Ds had a leftwing MAGA-equivalent segment of the party, they'd probably be floating the conspiracy theory that Trump staged the whole thing to help his campaign.

They do, and sadly, they are - apparently millions of clicks.  


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/15/trump-shooting-shows-conspiracy-theories-not-confined-to-right-wing

Originally Posted by Jim Moscheck

Hmmm, Harris will appeal to moderates, independents, young people, people of color, women, reasonable men, etc. Many of whom who were turned off by Biden's age. A reasonable VP pick will only make her stronger.

What did JD Vance bring? The MAGA faithful and not much else.

Bingo.  If Trump loses, this is why.  According to insiders, he picked Vance to "secure his legacy" with a MAGA front runner queued up for '28.  Trump was assuming he would run against Biden and win in a landside by modern standards no matter who he picked.  Oops.    

Other choices like Nikki Haley would have enhanced Trump's chances of actually winning.  Especially in retrospect.  If Trump had picked Haley, he would have picked up a few moderate women, whom he really could use.  Politically speaking of course.  With Trump...  Oh, never mind.

I'm not sure Harris is the best candidate, but it is undeniable the Ds have rallied around her.   Wait for her to strategically pick one of the popular Governors of MI or PA as a running mate.  Her path to the oval office means winning MI, PA, and WI first and foremost.  Trump did nothing to strengthen his position with undecided voters in these states.   He may still win, and he is almost certainly ahead at this point in time.  But if he loses, his VP selection will look pretty bad in retrospect.   Hubris before the fall.

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

Compared to the billions of clicks on the rightwing extremist side for anything crazy, that's a drop in the bucket. Compared to the "election was stolen" nonsense, it's nothing...

Maybe. It also certainly does not compare to the 3+ years of Russian Collusion hoaxing.  A trillion clicks?  That's probably extreme.  10s of billions.