The Frankish Reich

That was Biden-esque, Pierre.

Sometimes things are simple. No one wants to keep saying this: "Vice President Harris, who was charged by President Biden to examine the root causes of immigration from the Northern Triangle countries, has not yet visited the U.S.-Mexico border." So they go with the shorthand: "Vice President and Border Czar Harris has not yet visited the U.S.-Mexico border." But ooh, Axios used a shorthand! Gotcha!!

Remember this one? ^^ Alt Media X owner denied, denied, denied it was true! So what happened to the "affordable Tesla?" Well, Elon told us it was on hold (indefinitely? forever?) in favor of his robotaxi concept. Except that one is delayed too. https://www.investmentnews.com/industry-news/news/tesla-disappoints-but-musk-hails-autonomy-as-the-future-255652 And one of the stated reasons for the delay? The robotaxi was going to be built in Mexico. It's going to be delayed until "after the election" since he can't trust that Trump won't violate/withdraw from USMCA and impose tariffs on his cars. MSM wins again.

Elon just punked Trump. https://www.statesman.com/story/news/state/2024/07/24/elon-musk-trump-donation-america-pac/74525519007/ Got Trump to appoint Peter Thiel's beard as his VP candidate by floating that $45 million a month idea, then pulls the rug out after it's happened.

^ Dontcha love how Tarheel goes from LOLing at Axios stories to quoting them as "proof" that Kamala was appointed to a nonexistent post?

I'm afraid you're right about the last part. Pete is sharp, clear, smart, and a great contrast to the new-style JD Vance. And Vance actually has less relevant experience than Pete. But I just don't think it'll work.

Oh. I see. You found that flattering. Or even heroic. Hence my confusion. But they say everyone looks better in B&W. It renders the Bronx Color skintone and Orange Hair in subtle shades of gray. [now THAT's the edgy me]

Early? Early?? I say I got a late start today.

No, that one wasn't edgy. That one relied on a contrast: Democratic add shows family getting ahead through public benefits. Commenter (me) points out that the other side has shown no interest in reforming those benefit programs because their voters actually like them/subsist on them. I'll save edgy for the appropriate moment. As always.

It is stupid. Which is why I can't wait for Mr. Hillbilly Elegy to call for a reduction in SNAP benefits to his Hillbilly supporters. Or to take Mountain Dew off the list of approved SNAP groceries.

And enough of that "Kamala called Biden a racist." She didn't. https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-9244041620 CLAIM: California Sen. Kamala Harris called former Vice President Joe Biden a racist when they were facing off as potential Democratic candidates for president in 2019. AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Harris criticized Biden on certain topics related to race during a debate in June 2019, but she prefaced those remarks with “I do not believe you are a racist.” The people who say that are trying to beat Kamala at her own game. They are basically saying that Biden's anti-forced busing policy was racist, hence Biden himself was a racist.

A prime example of why this board needs my edginess.

Publish what?

So where's that "cover-up" the OP promised? It's what, 11 whole days since the shooting? And we already know it was a colossal screw up, and we know exactly how it was screwed up.

And not only that: party affiliation is unstable, even over the course of an election cycle. And one of the key reasons for the pressure on Biden to resign: the generic ballot poll (do you want Republicans or Democrats in Congress?) is basically a tie now. So Biden was underperforming that generic ballot by anywhere from 4-8 points, which is horrible. Early signs are that Kamala hasn't gotten "popular"; rather, she's now running as the generic Democrat in a fundamentally tied race. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/there_are_no_permanent_majorities_in_america_97110.html

Oh goodie. I tend to ignore these things. Not "ignore" as in "pretend to put you on ignore." Just plain old ignore. But hey, as for Father of the Year, I nominate Elon Musk!

Ooh, "changing dietary guidelines." I'm sure everyone will immediately adopt the voluntary Newest Food Pyramid/Polygon. The whole concept sounds communist to me. Or maybe fascist. I haven't made up my mind. Definitely not MAGA. That's all I know. America got great on red meat and red meat only.

Can't believe the troglodytes missed this. Let's think about it for a moment. Elon blames "woke mind virus" for killing his son (actually, that son is still alive and living as a woman). If you believe tans kids aren't "born that way," but rather become trans because of their environment, allow me to posit an alternate explanation. A more traditional one. One that has to do with an uncaring/absent father who seems to believe that quantity (of children) is all that matters. https://people.com/elon-musk-complete-dating-history-7502497

Irv, cleverly sliding the scale from "he's dead" to "he should resign" I refer you to Jon Stewart: let's put Biden and Trump on PEDs right now! This isn't the Olympics. They don't take away your Nobel Prize for finally solving the Middle East just because you were on Ritalin!

Trump famously doesn't read. As in read anything. When asked about his reading habits, he has suggested that he reads the Bible. But don't expect to get any significant understanding of a Bible passage from him. https://www.axios.com/2018/02/09/trump-doesnt-read-his-presidential-briefings-report-1518192747 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/03/17/donald-trump-describes-his-unrequited-love-reading/ He was a bad student who apparently had trouble focusing. His family sent him away to military school because of this, where he fit in much better, but without apparent improvements in his grades or behavior. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decades-later-disagreement-over-young-trumps-military-academy-post/2016/01/09/907a67b2-b3e0-11e5-a842-0feb51d1d124_story.html Despite the family's wealth and connections, he couldn't get into an Ivy League college. (And look at the stats: it wasn't nearly as hard to get into an Ivy, particularly what were considered the lower-tier Ivies like Penn, at that time.) He went to Fordham instead. His niece claims that it is family lore that he paid someone to take the SAT for him. A prof who remembers him claimed that he was "the dumbest goddamn student I ever had" at Penn. https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/07/politics/mary-trump-book-donald-trump/index.html https://www.phillymag.com/news/2019/09/14/donald-trump-at-wharton-university-of-pennsylvania/ As President, he astounded his staff by being unable to make it through even a two-page briefing paper. He did seem to have some interest in graphs and charts rather than the written word. His lack of focus on policy briefings is legendary. He gets his news through television, which he watched incessantly while President. https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-looks-at-charts-in-intelligence-briefings-2020-5 https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/31/politics/trump-tv-viewing-analysis/index.html His manner of speaking has changed over the years, to a new kind of repetitive, lower grade-level communication. It is obviously effective with his core audience, but it is unclear whether he is doing it for political purposes or because he now lacks the capacity to communicate in more formal, Presidential ways. https://www.newsweek.com/trump-fire-and-fury-smart-genius-obama-774169#:~:text=Trump clocked in around mid,nearly a sixth-grade level. https://www.statnews.com/2017/05/23/donald-trump-speaking-style-interviews/ People have suggested for a long time that he is dyslexic. I believe this to be true. He is, at a minimum, an extreme auditory learner, unable to process the written word. People have also suggested ADHD/ADD, and his behavior - from his school days to the present - strongly supports this. And now we have seen a degradation in his language skills too. https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/09/17/why-trump-cant-learn-educated-guess-veteran-teacher https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/donald-trump-attention-span-214223/ I don't want to suggest that a dyslexic or someone with ADHD is unfit for the presidency. Nor do I want to suggest that someone who is losing some linguistic agility is unfit (after all, that is Biden). But the key here is that he seems to have no insight into these issues. The dyslexia/ADHD appears to have been recognized early on (hence, the military school) but has gone completely untreated/unaddressed. It impact his ability to understand and focus on the critical - and complex, regardless of how Trump dismisses them as "very easy" - issues that every President must deal with. https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/09/politics/president-trump-national-security-advisers-rage-book/index.html There are at least as serious questions about his fitness to serve another 4 years as there were with Biden. Here we have aging combined with life-long, untreated learning disabilities, rather than just the aging curve alone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Pests_campaign I got the "Maoist" idea from economist Scott Sumner, who is hardly some kind of lefty (he's a pretty standard monetary hawk Republican). He makes a good point about the competing visions for America, both strangely echoing Maoist theory, albeit in different ways: https://www.themoneyillusion.com/the-age-of-irony/ Consider two definitions of Maoism: 1. Radical egalitarianism. Public shaming and forced apologies when people fail to spout obvious nonsense like, “All differences in pay between ethnic groups reflect racism.” (I guess there’s lots of racism against white Christian Americans, as they make less than Jews from Eastern Europe or Hindus from India.) 2. Resentment against the intellectual elite. Shut down the universities and send the intellectuals to the countryside. Over the next four years, I expect to be eagerly munching on my popcorn as these two types of Maoists go after each other.

Because they're Maoists. They hate intellectuals and academics.

Well, the last line is the key. And I agree with it. But I think you're a little too optimistic about the status of the filibuster. I can't imagine Trump getting a majority in both houses and then just sitting back and saying, "well, I guess I'll just have to compromise away until I get 8 or 9 Democrats to join me." They'll be intense pressure on the new majority leader to kill it. And who will that new majority leader be? It would be a more sharply divided Senate with no obvious Machiavellian manipulator like McConnell. And Trump would have 4 years, not the hope of 8, and he's 77, so he knows time is not on his side ... the pressure to act fast will be intense.

The off the record comments of Trump campaign staff: they expect Harris to get a publicity-driven bump in the polls and to be in the lead (nationally) within the next few weeks. No doubt this is why Trump is talking about debates. If he felt secure in his lead, he'd probably say "I already agreed to debates with Biden; too late to change it up now." Bottom line: still a very close election. And as everyone says, the rest of us might as well sit it out and let Michigan/Wisconsin/Pennsylvania duke it out.