I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE BOTTOM IS • US presidential elections part VIII

https://twitter.com/frankthorp/status/763894345959440384

http://gawker.com/donald-trump-finally-tells-a-lie-worth-believing-1785180938

Speaking at a rally in Florida Thursday night, Donald Trump repeatedly said it was Friday. As both the attendant crowd and multiple reporters at the scene noted, it was not.

nytimes editorial board

Right now Mr. Trump is losing, and this very likely terrifies him. Maybe he doesn’t know how to control himself, or comprehend why he should. Or he is simply satisfying his boundless need for attention. But his behavior this week raises a more disturbing scenario. Perhaps he has given up on winning through civil means and does not care about the consequences of his campaign of incitement.

Supposedly a big campaign/RNC 'come to Jesus' meeting tomorrow:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/donald-trump-rnc-meeting-226938

One *small* problem -- Trump isn't going to be there.

I wish I knew a word to describe how I feel about all this. Schadenfreude isn't strong enough.

terrified is a good word. one of the best words.

i've been going with sad!

Confuses childcare services for hotel/club guests with childcare services for employees:

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/427e5f6dd29c4c30a99486cdf34cd054/trump-touts-child-care-programs-theyre-guests-only

I've actually been slowly circling back to a theory that was discarded many months ago--that, starting with that phone call with Bill Clinton before he officially entered, Trump is some kind of a mole for Hillary. I realize there's a thousand reasons why that's far-fetched, but his behaviour the past couple of weeks makes no sense at all. That he entered to create mischief for Clinton's side ("You can't win--just put your name in and say whatever you want, ridicule everyone else, create some debate clips we can use in commercials when the general comes around"), incredibly won the nomination despite every attempt to get himself drummed out of the party, then even more miraculously took the lead for a few days...that he would then get crazier than ever seems easier to explain using the mole theory than trying to reconcile his words and actions since he took the lead with the idea that he actually wants to win.

In February, Trump accused the committee of “illegally” making money off of him after it sent out an email fundraising appeal that used his name.

ha

been heartened by the various clips and pictures today of screaming old people. have never been too worried about a trump victory but was darkly certain during the primaries that a permanent fascist constituency was being built that wasn't nearly as grey as the cool kids liked to think -- but he's gotten so artless and incoherent lately i can't imagine anyone being left who hasn't been forwarding HUSSEIN emails to their embarrassed nephews for eight years.

still v concerned about usa's present vulnerability to ambitious horsemen and i sure will be happy if we get all the way to 2017 (let alone 2020) without major political street violence, but trump does seem determined to fall off the horse.

i can't imagine anyone being left

(of course there are plenty left. in general tho the campaign now seems to be dully plowing a recognizable niche out on the fringe whereas it seemed capable before of expanding that niche to swallow half the country.)

Hannity would be first on my list of preferred collateral damage.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/08/11/too-good-to-check-sean-hannitys-tale-of-a-trump-rescue/?tid=sm_fb

That McMullin guy, BTW, has made the ballot in Colorado and his campaign folks are already making noises about Florida.

I like that one of the straws that is breaking the RNC's back currently is that precious Marco Rubio is being threatened in Florida.

Lengthy piece in new york mag last week, v v juicy

Found it:
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/07/alan-grayson-florida-senate-race.html

Rubio's ahead of Murphy by double digits in most polls.

I don't care what y'all say. Florida, the state with the prettiest name, to quote Elizabeth Bishop, is more fun and fucked up than the other 49 put together.

Off-topic followup on that cyclist video posted above, local news tracked the dude down: http://www.thebikecomesfirst.com/incredibly-angry-motorist-apologises-after-road-rage-incident-with-cyclist-video/

Will any journalists have the cojones to follow up with Trump about Russia, the Ukraine and Crimea, or was that, like, days ago?

Preet Bharara has started a corruption probe into the Clinton Foundation. Have a nervous weekend, friends!

h8 this upside down world where I am hoping people don't pay much attention to the influence of big money in politics

xpost Nervous or unsurprised?

Meantime:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-no-need-get-out-the-vote

And buried in this:

The Trump campaign has asked the RNC to open offices in all 50 states, a move one party aide told Daniel is a “complete waste of resources.” For example, why boost resources in a state like Idaho, which is going to vote for Trump, or states like Hawaii or Massachusetts that certainly will not? An RNC source said it was a “fool’s errand” and more for Trump’s “ego” and for “bragging” purposes, instead of deft campaign strategy. The source said it was a “personal request” by Trump to have offices in all 50 states.

https://www.google.com/amp/abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/donald-trump-explains-calling-obama-founder-isis-sarcasm/story%3fid=41326238?client=safari

Just a bit of sarcasm

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/hannity-investigation-clinton-health

lmao this shit is so fuckin funny to me, hannity is grasping so hard

better get a team to retrieve a stool sample

well, it would explain why HRC thinks reaching out to Kissinger is a good idea

xxxp Donald Trump: straight talker

xxxp He is truly Reddit's finest.

i love that ABC news provides this clarification:

Obama did not found ISIS. The terrorist group, in its current form, was officially founded by the group's current leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

this is the kind of thing that makes me wonder if the whole "clinton plant" thing might not have some credence:

“We are gonna have tremendous turnout from the evangelicals, from the miners, from the people that make our steel, from people that are getting killed by trade deals, from people that have been just decimated, from the military who are with Trump 100 percent,” he went on. “From our vets because I’m going to take care of the vets.”

“I don’t know that we need to get out the vote,” the Republican nominee concluded. “I think people that really want to vote, they’re gonna just get up and vote for Trump. And we’re going to make America great again.”

you couldn't invent a better charlatan candidate.

something seemes more calculated to me with the 'obama founded isis' thing, like he drew out the statement and just kept saying it over and over

Nah, the guy really is that dumb. Probably someone at a fundraiser told him that Obama should be called the founder of ISIS, and he repeated it for a few days. Guy's a gullible idiot.

does the preet bahara story exist outside a couple fringe right-wing content mills? not that i think it's impossible or whatever but i was googling it and it seems like it's a big dailycaller scoop.

DT: If he would have done things properly, you wouldn’t have had ISIS.

HH: That’s true.

DT: Therefore, he was the founder of ISIS.

HH: And that’s, I’d just use different language to communicate it, but let me close with this, because I know I’m keeping you long, and Hope’s going to kill me.

DT: But they wouldn’t talk about your language, and they do talk about my language, right?

DT: But they wouldn’t talk about your language, and they do talk about my language, right?

is his entire candidacy summed up

For those who wanted some closure on the bicycle story, here's the youtube of the guy capitulating; dude's demeanor, even when not in full-on asshole mode is extremely trumpish
"of course i'm embarrassed, I'm on tv!"

got another link? that one won't load for me for whatever reason

I worry that Trump is blowing his load too early. He suggested the Russians should hack her emails, then he suggested gun people should possibly shoot her, called her the devil and now is literally saying she's responsible for ISIS. I just don't know where you go after this. Maybe "brain transplant from Hitler" has some legs.

The funny thing to me about all this is that the "pivot" every traditional Republican was praying for actually did happen, it just happened in the opposite direction.

Every time I see this thread title I can't help singing it to the tune of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar.

xp to GT:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YevkFAfIEH4

oh right, flash issues: http://tinyurl.com/j22uwf7

https://www.google.com/amp/abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/donald-trump-explains-calling-obama-founder-isis-sarcasm/story%3fid=41326238?client=safari

Just a bit of sarcasm

― Treeship, Friday, August 12, 2016 9:30 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

picturing bored teen Trump hanging with Daria: "You know who's totally the founder of ISIS? Obama." Rolls eyes. "A real MVP."

I am aware that the "Clinton plant" is just a pleasant daydream, but I do like the idea that with a few weeks to go he finally starts spending money - on ads supporting Republican candidates in the Senate and the House.

Trump's sarcasm defense reminds me of the time my mom heard me call my brother a whore when we were kids and, when pressed, I insisted that I'd actually called him a horror. No one in that situation bought it and I think everyone knew that no one bought it.

His inability to apologize, however half-assed, is pathological and truly infantile. It's like asking a child with chocolate on their face and fingers, surrounded by candy wrappers, if they at the candy, and they say no and try to blame it on the dog. And then they say they didn't even like the chocolate, anyway.

trump's use of "sarcasm" there is like the dead parrot salesman's brother declaring "it was a pun."

Artist's mock up of Trump/Mexico wall: https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/t31.0-8/10382555_4376370543462_4219718631533707336_o.jpg

My bad, that is his proposed wall between the US and Great Britain.