Thursday, August 25, 2016

Random Topics

Here are a few quick topics to get us going today.

1. More Emails...yeah, you know what I'm talkin' about:

Okay, we can talk about the latest cache of 14,900 new Clinton emails that dropped this week. None of them should be too surprising including all of the ones that clearly spell out exactly how much one had to donate to the Clinton Foundation to garner favors and access to Sec't of State Clinton. It may look like they were comingling donations, staff, private email servers, and advisors, but that is just not true.

And anyways, the Clintons pinky-swear that if/when Hillary becomes President, they will put a halt to all that kind of stuff that wasn't happening. Bill has promised that he will step away from his Foundation and put an end to all foreign donations. Oh, Chelsea will remain on the Board of Directors, but other than that, all of it will stop...just like they promised in 2009, 2010, 2011, & 2012 when Hillary was Sec't of State. I really do believe them this time.

In other Clinton coincidences that just keep piling up, the FBI reports related to Hillary's interview in connection to the death of Vince Foster have disappeared from the National Archives. The Daily Mail requested access to 8 boxes of records in an earlier FOIA request, but in a second requested review, the reports were not in the boxes. After a thorough investigation of the 8 boxes of records, it was determined that may they were just misfiled in on of the other 3000 boxes. Interesting that it just so happens that coincidentally the only records misfiled were the FBI reports of Hillary's interview. LINK They probably will show up in a box in the WH residence just like Hillary's "missing" Rose Law Firm Whitewater-related billing records...

2. Shakespeare In The Park in Brooklyn:

A summer tradition in NYC as in other parts of the country, is doing productions of Shakespeare in the park. This year is no different, well, except for the newest production of "The Tempest" in Brooklyn's Prospect Park will be All-Female Cast Does Shakespeare In The Nude Sorry, guys no production photos available

“It’s being courageously vulnerable and generous with yourself as an artist, first and foremost, and saying, I’m doing this for this purpose,” said Suzannah Gratz.

Here's my take as someone who has done many productions of Shakespeare's play and in a park setting. No, it's called getting naked so no one notices how bad the acting is. No one is going to paying attention to the well-structured metered verse. They are attending to be oggling nekkid girlzzzzzzzz. FYI Nudity is quite legal in NYC as long as it is for the sake of art.

3. Why does this not surprise me...

This one doesn't need any explanation. It speaks for itself...Black Slime Creeps Washington DC's Famous Monuments
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Discuss this or any other topics...

55 comments:

Anthony said...

Like I said what feels like years ago, a remotely competent politician would have put the e-mail thing to bed years ago, just fessing up to everything rather than letting things continually come out in dribs and drabs.

The fact someone so utterly corrupt and devoid of charisma or even hallway decent political instincts is still in the lead for the White House is sadder every time I think about it.

Anthony said...

On a related note, Trump has suddenly adopted a much softer line on immigration and has temporarily stopped playing footsie with the alt right, declaring himself a friend of minorities and opposed to bigotry.

Ann Coulter is not amused.

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2016/08/24/ann-coulter-is-not-happy-with-trumps-softening-on-immigration-n2209481

Author Ann Coulter, who is out promoting her new book In Trump We Trust, isn't happy about Trump's ever softening illegal immigration stance and is blaming consultants for the change.

“I think this is a mistake. It sounds like it’s coming from consultants,” Coulter said last night on Hardball with Chris Matthews. “I’ve thought he’s made other mistakes, and I’ve given him constructive criticism when I think he makes a mistake. I think this is a mistake.”
---------------
Trump's backtracking on tough illegal immigration measures, including mass deportations, shouldn't be surprising. After all, it was Trump who called Romney's comments about self-deportation for economic reasons "mean-spirited" and "maniacal."
-----------
On Monday during an interview with Bill O'Reilly, Trump said he will focus on the deportation of violent criminal aliens and "do what Obama has done," on immigration policy.

Anthony said...

Looks like Iran is angling for another planeload of money from the Obama administration.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/24/politics/iranian-vessels-come-within-300-yards-of-us-destroyer/index.html


A US Navy official told CNN four Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps vessels conducted a "high-speed intercept" of the USS Nitze in waters near the Strait of Hormuz Tuesday, deeming the incident "unsafe and unprofessional."

The official said two of the vessels slowed and turned away only after coming within 300 yards of the US guided-missile destroyer as it transited international waters near the Strait of Hormuz, and only after the destroyer had sent multiple visual and audio warnings.

The incident is only the latest in a series of all-too-close encounters with Iran in the region since December. These brushes have included Iranian rocket launches, drones flying over US vessels and the capture of US sailors in January. They come against the backdrop of renewed US diplomatic contacts with Iran, which has triggered a political backlash among Iranian hardliners, including the powerful IRGC.

Rustbelt said...

I was going to comment on how 8th-year presidents often disappear in their final year, (yeah, yesterday' news), but wanted to mention this addition to the'Stupid Files' instead...

Early Tuesday morning on Pitt campus- just off Forbes Ave.- a total moron/student tried to jump between the roofs of two buildings, missed, fell, and got wedged in a 16-18 inch space. Rescue crews had to jackhammer a hole through the wall of a Qdoba on one side to get the communications/film student out.
The catch? He was trying to impress his date! Sadly, the girl's reaction- which would have been the best part of the story-hasn't been revealed.
Qdoba could lose two weeks of business while the wall is repaired. (The idiot may have had a broken ankle.)

Sorry I can't post a news link with my phone. I'll see if I can do it later, though.

Anthony said...

Rustbelt,

I read about that. Oddly, people committing random idiocy isn't uncommon nowadays. IMHO there is a very, very fine line between random idiocy and extreme sports (i.e. rooftop parkour).

tryanmax said...

Anthony, what Trump actually said, which is much more interesting but far less meaningful, is that he'll do what Obama has done on immigration but "perhaps with a lot more energy."

That's rhetorically brilliant because it lets everyone interpret it however they want. If you like what Obama does, Trump will do more of it. If you don't like it, Trump has identified the problem to fix. If you hate Trump, you can point out that what he said is nonsense.

The most brilliant part, though, is that no one knows what the hell Obama is doing on immigration. To wit, my mother works for INS where nobody knows what the hell is going on (and, incidentally, bracing for a Hillary takeover--you don't brace for a good change). If the INS doesn't understand Obama's immigration policy, how can any of the observers and pundits, let alone Trump?

In sum, Trump says he's going to fix/improve a system that is/isn't working by adding energy--which is the most basic description of any action. A mugger adds energy to a walk down the street. Don't expect anyone else to make that observation, tho'.

Kit said...

All-female Shakespeare in the park nude?

It's not about being vulnerable, it's about getting attention. Shamelessly.

BevfromNYC said...

Kit - Uh, yeah! More to the point, it really just an excuse to run around nekkid 'cause that might get you famous the YouTubes. Torn Out Theater production was produced in association with The Outdoor Co-ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society, a reading club that hosts al fresco reading sessions for shirtless women. a/k/a An Way For Men To Get Women To Take Their Shirts Off Without Being Considered a Pervert 'Cause We Is Reedin' Literahcher" Society.

Interestingly, only a "couple of hundred people" showed up for the May production of Nekkid Henry V???? and Nekkid Hair (which is actually a production that was written in '60's for everyone to get nekkid, so no new "artistic" ground being broken there.

BevfromNYC said...

Anthony and Tryanmax - The other statements that Trump has made are a little more "conservative". He has added that we need secure the borders and figure out what to do about illegal immigrants. Which is the one thing Obama says that he has done, but the Southern border states (except California) vigorously disagree.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, This email thing is the gift that keeps giving. I really do suspect that the final nail is in her coffin already and this stuff just has the public whacking away again to make sure.

AndrewPrice said...

Rustbelt, The world is full of stupid people... always has been. Sadly, these days they dominate the "news."

AndrewPrice said...

Bev tryanmax and Anthony, Trump actually hasn't change his position on immigration if you listened to him throughout. Despite the loud sounds that came across like "DEPORT THEM ALL AND BUILD A WALL!" he was always very careful to leave caveats the size of the Mexican border. Now he's toned down the loud stuff and the media is finally noticing the caveats.

I think if Trump gets elected, you will see two things everyone will be surprised about unless they paid attention: (1) he will sign a gay rights/marriage bill and (2) he will demand a path to citizenship for illegals. And his original followers, i.e. Coulter, will hate him for it.

BevfromNYC said...

Email stuff...here's some interesting reading. This is what Clinton voluntarily signed when she was being vetted for Sec't Of State in relation to the Clinton Foundation issues.
1/5/2009 Sen. Clinton ltr re: Ethics Undertaking

Now she is saying that SHE wasn't supposed to communicate directly with the Foundation or donors and such, but her people didn't sign such an agreement. They were free to have contact with whom ever they could.

That is not the way I read this agreement. Read the very first paragraph and tell me I am wrong about that. But thru her "interpretation, she knowingly created a "middle-man" pipeline for plausible deniability.

Anthony said...

Andrew, Bev and Tryanmax,

Trump has changed his emphasis, which changes the meaning of his words.

I predict some of the people drawn to his words are going to be disenchanted, many repulsed by them are going to stay away.

I think its really bizarre that a guy expects to be voted into office before he tells us what he believes and what wants to do with all the power he would get.

If Hillary had a conventional opponent she would be toast. Instead voters have no one to pin their hopes on. Its go with the devil they know or the devil they don't.

Hoping scandal will knock out Hillary strikes me as not much of a hope. That is like betting that say, low reviews will bring down the next Michael Bay epic. If it was going to happen, it probably would have happened already. Audiences know what they are getting so expecting them to suddenly reject it strikes me as unrealistic.

I guess that is the only hope Republicans have in the near future...

AndrewPrice said...

Anthony,

I think its really bizarre that a guy expects to be voted into office before he tells us what he believes and what wants to do with all the power he would get.

Why? This is how every other politician does it. Why view Trump as unique? Seriously, they ALL tell people what they want to hear, often telling contradictory things to different people, and none of them ever tell anyone what they really plan to do until they get elected. Obama made an art form of saying nothing and letting everyone assume he was with them.

If Hillary had a conventional opponent she would be toast.

Doubt it. If it had been Cruz, he would be losing by 30% and facing the exact same scenario of Republicans abandoning ship. If it had been Ryan/Romney/Rubio/Kasich, he would be closer than Cruz, but he would be facing an all out assault from the right.

Anthony said...

Andrew,

Most politicians start somewhere lower than the presidency so they have policy track records that can be looked at.

AndrewPrice said...

Anthony,

Obama went from unemployed to absentee State Senator to five minutes in the Senate before he ran and won. He had no record to speak of. Bush went from drunk to least powerful Governor in the country to President. He had no record you could discern.

Anthony said...

Andrew,

Wasn't Obama one of America's most liberal senators?

AndrewPrice said...

If you listen to talk radio, yes. If you look at his "record," he barely had one. If I recall correctly, he introduced only a couple bills and nothing he wrote himself. He voted on almost nothing controversial either. He was in office a total of two years before he ran for President.

tryanmax said...

In other words, Trump is everything we've been moving towards in a presidential candidate: Politically inexperienced, ambiguous platform, all personality with zero substance.

BevfromNYC said...

Now Andrew, with all due respect, Obama was "community organizer". But then again, no one can actually point to anything he organized in the community. And then he was a Constitutional Law Professor which he wasn't. He just taught a seminar in "community organizing" and the Constitution and stuff. But hey, Obama The Movie is coming out right in time for the election, I think!

BevfromNYC said...

Tryanmax, Yep, that about covers it...>8(

Koshcat said...

Bev - while naked all-female shakespeare sounds intriguing, I fear the actors will be made up of fat hairy feminists.

Trump is starting to show he can play the game. His statements are somewhat subdued except for asking for an independent investigator into Hillary's ethically questionable tactics between the foundation and her government position.

I accidentally listened to 10 min of NPR on Tuesday interviewing someone from some magazine such as New Republic or The Atlantic, I can't remember. The host and the guest were bantering back and forth on how they couldn't understand why Hillary won't just deal with this immediately and shut down the Foundation. They admit that Hillary's weakness is she is stubborn and this is typical of the Clintons. *sigh* No, this is typical of the Clintons because they believe they are above the law and the media will cover their ass long enough for the public to not care any more.

The most ridiculous statement was that it was "preposterous" for Trump to call for special prosecutor. To the average voter, why is it preposterous? If she did nothing wrong then she will be acquitted. As the election gets closer and more emails comes out, Trump should promise an investigation if elected. Sure Obama may pardon her but he won't do it until after the election.

ArgentGale said...

Andrew, I reached the same conclusion that you did about the Republican nominee facing internal problems no matter who it was a few weeks ago myself. They really would rather infight and lose so they can feel smug in their "principles," huh? This seriously has to stop.

The Shakespeare production was worth a chuckle, too. You've got to love the pseudo-lofty rhetoric justifying it, too. Koshcat, I'm pretty sure you're right about the quality of the performers, too!

- Daniel

Anthony said...

Some university professor dissected the brains of late term aborted babies with (maybe for) summer camp students. You'd think someone involved in the process would have seen the problem.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/08/26/house-panel-seeks-criminal-charges-for-university-new-mexico-in-abortion-research.html

“We had a faculty member, who in fact, obtained some tissue and, during one of these summer workshops dissected, I think one or two fetal brains,” said Roth.

The House received disturbing documentation in regards to the summer camp.

The custom ordering of brains for "summer camp students" is taken from UNM Health Sciences Centers, "Procurement Notes" notebook, in which an unnamed university staffer wrote:

"Asked clinic for digoxin treated tissue 24-28 wks. for methylation study & because [name redacted] wants whole, fixed brains to dissect w/ summer camp students."

The school has not elaborated on the notes or the ages of camp participants.

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, That seems to be the case.

AndrewPrice said...

My bad, Bev. Community Organization is clearly a needed "profession". Without it, people in poor zones (can't call them neighborhoods if they aren't organized) would wear mismatched socks.

AndrewPrice said...

Koshcat, That's the left for you. It's evil to call them out. Pure hate. Of course, they can hate you and do anything they want, but you can't.

AndrewPrice said...

Daniel, The right has devolved into self-pitying martyrdom.

AndrewPrice said...

Anthony, That's going to be bad. Camp students are mostly grades 5-10 around here.

BevfromNYC said...

The camp is a science camp for HS students. And yeah, the next revelation will be that they obtained not just the brains, btw, from PP for a cash "donation".

Kit said...

Sorry for the lateness of my Friday's Thoughts.

Here is Gilbert & Sullivan's "Three Little Maids from School" to hold you: LINK

BevfromNYC said...

Thanks Kit! I love "The Mikado" and G&S. Btw, did you notice that Yum Yum is sung by Shirley Henderson..."Moaning Myrtle" from the Harry Potter movies. Wow, didn't know she could sing!

Kit said...

Bev,

Yes, I did notice that! :-)

Kit said...

Given the pressures of class and work I'm going to be going on a brief hiatus.

I'm not going to quit blogging, but, for the time being, I just won't be able to do a regular, weekly post on politics. I'm working on a Gawker post right now which will probably be my last regular post.

Anthony said...

So Trump has reversed position on immigration and sent out a tweet boasting after a black mother of four was shot..

Victory isn't out of reach for Trump, but between Trump and Lepage I'm expecting minority support to hit new lows.

tryanmax said...

Typical confirmation bias. Trump says he wants to help black communities ravaged by violence. What a racist!

Trump is putting the question to the test: are Republicans (even late comers) even allowed to discuss race issues? The answer is a resounding "no."

I'll be citing this election year in the future any time someone says Republicans need to work on their minority outreach.

tryanmax said...

Clinton's 47%?

Clinton insinuated in her speech in Reno that Trump supporters in general are white racists. That's roughly 40% of the country she insulted. I doubt she has even considered a strategy to woo them back. Clinton just narrowed the electorate to 20% of the total.

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, "Wrong regardless" has always been the left's attack on conservative outreach to minorities. "Always racist!" This is why the Democrats have been bleeding white voters and why, I think, most minorities are moving away from race issues.

At this point, race is fast becoming like abortion -- an insider issue that the public is sick of hearing about.

AndrewPrice said...

BTW, I saw "Pete's Dragon." I'll be writing a review. I hated every last second of it.

Anthony said...

Tryanmax,

Here is the entirety of Trump's initial tweet.

"Dwyane Wade's cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago," Trump tweeted. "Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP!”

---------

No expression of sympathy or desire to help.

Just the hope that Trump would gain from the death of a person whose name Trump didn't bother to learn.

If you confuse anything Trump has been doing with minority outreach, I don't know what to tell you.

Anthony said...

Andrew,

Trump has made race a highlight of his campaign. When he was knocking down his non-white political rivals during the primary he made sure to highlight their 'otherness' and call into question their patriotism (which of course, he had also done to Obama before).

His campaign knows who its target audience is.

That is not to say all white supremacists are Trump supporters or vice versa, but Trump has worked very hard to win their support, certainly harder and more consistently than he's worked for the support of any minority group.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-wilson/white-supremacist-interviews-donald-trump-jr-gets-vip-parking-at-trump-rally_b_9366824.html

“For blacks in the Americas, slavery is the greatest thing that ever happened to them” — James Edwards, founder and head of The Political Cesspool, August 11, 2008

Underscoring the status of the Trump for President campaign as America’s de-facto political flagship for white nationalism, on Monday March 1st, white supremacist journalist James Edwards, whose online talk show has featured neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers, parked his car in a VIP press slot at a Memphis Trump rally, sauntered in, and proceeded to broadcast live from the rally as Donald Trump’s 757 taxied in, driving the crowd to a frenzy.

Edwards was not just any Southern white supremacist journalist. Earlier, he had landed an exclusive interview with Donald Trump, Jr., that is scheduled to be broadcast this coming Saturday, March 5th.

The Political Cesspool, Edwards’ journalism website, is sponsored by leading white supremacist publications and groups such as the Occidental Quarterly and the Council of Conservative Citizens, a recrudescence of the White Citizens Councils that fought desegregation in the South in the 1950s and 1960s.

tryanmax said...

Anthony, as I said, confirmation bias. That one tweet is now the entirety of Trump's minority outreach and, surprise surprise, he didn't pick the perfect 140 characters. Or did he?

He now has command of the next news cycle and the media will give him many opportunities to express his sympathies. You won't believe him, because it won't fit with your definition of minority outreach, aka confirmation bias. I define minority outreach as whatever politicians do to appeal to voters who vote on race issues--including suburban whites.

Incidentally, guilt by association is another form of confirmation bias.

Hey! You know what Americans hate more than racists? Being called racists. Clinton called a lot of Americans racists. It's not smart to attack Americans when you're running for office. (Ask Mitt.) Can Clinton continue to make such mistakes and hope to stay on top?

tryanmax said...

I don't normally do the link-storm thing, but here's one for you, Anthony: http://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2016/08/28/the-race-card-cometh-n2211100

Anthony said...

Tryanmax,

No one ever said the tweet was the entirety of his minority outreach. I said the tweet was going to hurt his already rock bottom levels of minority support not help it.

*Shrugs* If you think a celebratory tweet after a woman was murdered was a genius move we'll just have to agree to disagree. Time will tell.

Anthony said...

Tryanmax,

I read the article earlier today. Doesn't say anything particularly clever. I dubbed Trump Hillary's Hope last year.

It also ignores the fact Trump dug his own grave. Racist conspiracy theories about minorities who wind up in his crosshairs, retweeting false data from white supremacists, etc. That is what condemns him, not Hillary's speech.

Like Bernie Sanders Trump is the perfect opponent for Hillary.

AndrewPrice said...

Anthony, Trump has issues, but he's hardly "the perfect opponent for Hillary." If Cruz had won the nomination, the race would be over. He'd be thirty points down.

As for race issues, I'll be honest that I don't think blacks matter anymore. They've made themselves irrelevant by supporting the Democrats 90%. The only issue with them is turnout, which translates into may a 0.5% difference all centered around a few states that are either already deeply blue or deeply red.

What does matter is white women who are on the fence. The problem for the left with them is that they like gays MUCH more than blacks, and Trump is basically pro-gay. Moreover, I don't think anyone believes that Trump is a racist because he does the one thing racists supposedly don't do -- he hires black people. That's too many years of indiscriminate whining of racism coming to roost.

Anthony said...

Andrew,

I agree that alienating the small number of blacks in play doesn't cost Republicans a meaningful chunk of the vote. Of course, blacks aren't the only minorities out there (nods towards Hispanics, who are much more in play, or were).

As for white woman, like you said, Trump doesn't seem to have a problem with gays, which I suppose helps with women (nods towards bizarre attacks on Fiorina and Heidi Cruz) which probably goes a long way towards explaining the historically large gap one is seeing between white male and female voters.

Anthony said...

The last paragraph was a bit jumbled. To put it clearly, Trump's recent comments about certain women and his tendency to spout off probably matter more to many women than his views of gays or blacks or what have you.

tryanmax said...

Anthony, two can play your game: No one ever said Trump's tweet was a genius move. You don't seem to be getting anything I'm saying. Trump's appeal "to" minority voters is to make him more palatable to whites who won't vote for a "racist." If you think he's seriously trying to pick up black votes, you've been hoodwinked. You are so deep into confirmation bias that when I say "Hillary screwed up," you say, "Trump only has himself to blame." You're not even looking for anything but what you're expecting. That all but guarantees something will surprise you and everyone else doing the same.

tryanmax said...

Anthony, there is a world of difference between attacks on a woman (even if it's more than one) and attacks on women.

AndrewPrice said...

Corners gentlemen, corners. Speaking of which (actually, this is totally unrelated), I'm thinking of doing a series on Studio Ghibli for the film site. Anyone interested in offering any other anime related stuff?

ArgentGale said...

That sounds like a good idea, Andrew. You'd think for all the anime-based games I play, such as Final Fantasy, Guilty Gear, and Shin Megami Tensei (primarily the Persona games) I'd have something to contribute as far as actual anime goes but I've never actually watched a whole lot of it. I would be curious about your thoughts on the FF games you've played, though, since I know you've played a few of them.

- Daniel

Anthony said...

Tryanmax,

If you are saying Trump's strategy is to drive away what minority support the Republican party has and win over more white voters, we are on the same page. The big problem I see with his strategy is that he has a serious problem with female voters (including white female voters).

Your point that there is a difference between attacking a person and attacking a group is true, but its all about the nature of the attack.

For example, Rush's days long sex rant about Sandra Fluke hurt the Republicans with women as a group. Trump's pattern of bizarre, crude attacks of women didn't hurt him in the primaries, but in the broader general...

Hillary doesn't inspire much loyalty among women or anyone else, but Trump has managed to create a gender gap whose size is without modern precedent. Looks like a problem to me. I guess we'll know in November.

tryanmax said...

Anthony, that is not what I'm saying and I'm tired of repeating myself.

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