Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: RNC 2016: A literal shitshow

Alfie

Mon, 25 Jul 2016 08:39:58 +1200

Here's the Wikileaks DNC email dump — 19,252 emails and 8,034 attachments which they describe as "part one of our new Hillary Leaks series." Implying there's more to come.

andin

Sun, 24 Jul 2016 19:13:45 +1200

there’s something very ugly going on here.

Im not sure if the term laissez-faire can be applied to ways we fool ourselves.
But some people seem to think so...aint nothing second guessing them.

David Hood

Sun, 24 Jul 2016 15:48:24 +1200

The Democratic National Committee reported some weeks back that it had suffered an attack on its email systems by Russian hackers.

Is anyone else having Nixon flashbacks?

Russell Brown

Sun, 24 Jul 2016 14:46:35 +1200

Well, that escalated quickly.

The Democratic National Committee reported some weeks back that it had suffered an attack on its email systems by Russian hackers.

The fruit of that attack showed up yesterday in the hands of Wikileaks, which has now published 20,000 emails. The contents of the emails may…

Ian Dalziel

Sun, 24 Jul 2016 14:14:00 +1200

Chur, mate!

H/T Robyn Gallagher

linger

Sun, 24 Jul 2016 12:57:19 +1200

Man. Chur, Ian.

Ian Dalziel

Sun, 24 Jul 2016 12:04:55 +1200

The Manchurian Candidate redux?
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/07/trump_and_putin_the_real_winner_of_the_rnc_is_the_kremlin.html

not to mention
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/07/21/reince_priebus_tells_inspirational_story_of_gm_president_william_knudsen.html
The book General Motors and the Nazis notes that in September 1938 Knudsen met personally with Hermann Göring at the Nazi leader's hunting lodge. On Oct 26, 1938, the New York Times quoted Knudsen’s remarks upon his return from a trip…

nzlemming

Sat, 23 Jul 2016 18:30:11 +1200

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/03/21/a-transcript-of-donald-trumps-meeting-with-the-washington-post-editorial-board/

Even in small groups, he is completely incoherent.

ETA: Jaw dropping moment:
DIEHL: What about China and the South China Sea. What do you think they’re up to and—

TRUMP: I think it’s a terrible situation, I think it’s terrible they have no respect for–

DIEHL: –and what should…

BenWilson

Sat, 23 Jul 2016 14:41:39 +1200

Wow, that's unusual, harsh, and true.

Rosemary McDonald

Sat, 23 Jul 2016 13:35:25 +1200

It’s also worth checking out Jon Stewart’s RNC rave when he guests on The Late Show.

We watched that last night, along with this....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqOTxl3Bsbw

'truthiness comes from the gut....trumpiness from somewhere, er, lower.'

Provided a little sane relief...

Alfie

Sat, 23 Jul 2016 13:04:58 +1200

Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone sums up the sad spectacle that was the 2016 Republican Convention. A campaign trail which was “more TV show than democracy” populated by fading celebrities. A very one-sided affair with “10 cops for every reporter and 10 reporters for every protester.”

It wasn’t what we…

Russell Brown

Sat, 23 Jul 2016 12:59:25 +1200

The Washington Post's withering, comprehensive denunciation of Trump.

Ian Dalziel

Sat, 23 Jul 2016 08:57:41 +1200

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQkYVr_Wr6k
go sit on it, and rotate…
Putting things in perspective…
Behold the chaotically fragile marble (or snow globe) we live on
– one year in time-lapse

Go full screen for best effect…
(possibly not safe for epileptics)

andin

Sat, 23 Jul 2016 08:44:42 +1200

Quicken Loans Shrine
if they win it may become one

Laurie Penny summed it up like this

They ventriloquise the fear of millions into a scream of fire in the crowded theatre of modernity where all the doors are locked, and then they watch the stampede, and they smile for…

Ian Dalziel

Sat, 23 Jul 2016 07:13:40 +1200

Wipe out!
If as them scientifickers posit our brains are unduly influenced by our gut flora and fauna I can see a distant future archaeological dig at the Quicken Loans Shrine site uncovering a similar midden to this old Silk Road one revealing that the Alpha Centaurian synaptic fluke had been…

Kumara Republic

Sat, 23 Jul 2016 05:33:35 +1200

Finally, although the RNCinCLE is the gift that keeps on giving, this:
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20160722_Daniel_PipesWith_Trump_as_nomineetime_to_quit_the_GOP.html

The Republican Party nominated Donald Trump as its candidate for president of the United States – and I responded by ending my 44-year GOP membership.

I hope his feeling spreads.

Then again, Pipes endorsed Ted Cruz, who's…

Joe Wylie

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 22:28:50 +1200

A.Eger Leintz 1902.

Thanks for the picture ID. It's an image that's stayed with me since it featured in an article in US Penthouse in the early 80s on the rise of the then-new American fundamentalist right. Can't recall the author, only that the striking image was copyright credited to…

nzlemming

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 21:52:13 +1200

My biggest fear with all this is 'what happens next?' Even if Trump loses, I really doubt that everyone is going to then pack up quietly and go home. Same with Brexit.

This is concerning a lot of my American friends, yes. Whether Trump wins or loses, he's already screwed…

Rich Lock

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 20:20:14 +1200

It’s got some dangerous inertia.

My biggest fear with all this is 'what happens next?' Even if Trump loses, I really doubt that everyone is going to then pack up quietly and go home. Same with Brexit.

william blake

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 18:57:39 +1200

A.Eger Leintz 1902. Austrian painting captures the spirit of the following decades.

simon g

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 17:36:44 +1200

Trump tried to step back from the mob in his speech. Cries of "lock her up" are no longer what he wants to hear – watch his body language when they start baying.

As always, those who first stoke the fires to get attention, cannot then look convincing as the…

nzlemming

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 17:22:19 +1200

Finally, although the RNCinCLE is the gift that keeps on giving, this:
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20160722_Daniel_PipesWith_Trump_as_nomineetime_to_quit_the_GOP.html

The Republican Party nominated Donald Trump as its candidate for president of the United States – and I responded by ending my 44-year GOP membership.

I hope his feeling spreads.

nzlemming

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 17:17:13 +1200

And, in other news:
http://www.politicususa.com/2016/07/21/crime-statistics-trumps-acceptance-speech-lies.html
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/rnc-2016-donald-trump-speech-factcheck-225994?lo=ap_b1

#unsurprised

nzlemming

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 17:16:24 +1200

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/07/21/we_finally_really_did_it_you_maniacs_you_blew_it_up.html

Melania does not look happy, smiling only when she realises the camera is actually on her.

nzlemming

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 17:02:36 +1200

Well, the situation with Meredith McIver just got serious for Trump. He's now alleged to have broken federal elections law by having a corporate employee carrying out duties on his campaign.

Rock and hard place – either McIver really truly does exist and Trump is guilty, or he has to…

Matthew Poole

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 16:19:59 +1200

Well, the situation with Meredith McIver just got serious for Trump. He's now alleged to have broken federal elections law by having a corporate employee carrying out duties on his campaign.

Joe Wylie

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 15:59:35 +1200

Nothing says it better.

True dat. For my money, Laurie Penny conveys manages to convey more than a mountain of mainstream pundits.

nzlemming

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 15:54:05 +1200

Fab article by Laurie Penny about Milo Yiannopoulos and the gay Republican trollery:
https://medium.com/welcome-to-the-scream-room/im-with-the-banned-8d1b6e0b2932#.7gky64tff

America is a nation eaten by its own myth

Nothing says it better.

H/t Emma Hart

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 15:53:39 +1200

So much for my estimate of when Trump would speak, they do go on... – I couldn’t wait and had to go out – so gawd knows what time he started and I just got home and heard he only just finished talking – at midnight EST.!!
Don’t think I’ll…

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 13:11:54 +1200

Fewer Capitalists
touché

I shoulda known better!
:- )

nzlemming

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 12:27:55 +1200

Regarding Paddy Gower, I had to laugh at his comment a few nights ago that "they are really drinking the kool-aid here."

That knee is full of iron, though I doubt Gower comprehends that.

Grant McDougall

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 12:06:46 +1200

Regarding Paddy Gower, I had to laugh at his comment a few nights ago that "they are really drinking the kool-aid here."

Stephen R

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 12:06:11 +1200

Fewer Capitalists

Rosemary McDonald

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 11:31:39 +1200

Now there's a thought.

We are many, they are few?

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 11:19:39 +1200

Joe strummer will be turning in his grave, they just launched the night with the Clash's Rock the Casbah...

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 11:06:47 +1200

The solution was obvious: less democracy.
...what about less Capitalists?

Alan Perrott

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 11:06:03 +1200

well done that man.

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 11:03:05 +1200

Update:
The convention gets under way at 7:30 p. m. EST (11:30 a.m. NZ). The theme for the evening is "Make America One Again." Trump himself is expected to start his speech a little around 8:30-8:45 p.m. EST to formally accept the GOP nomination.

Rosemary McDonald

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 11:02:24 +1200

Speaking of wierd

In a 2009 essay called The Education of a Libertarian, Thiel declared that capitalism and democracy had become incompatible. Since 1920, he argued, the creation of the welfare state and “the extension of the franchise to women” had made the American political system more responsive to more…

Alan Perrott

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 11:00:26 +1200

it might have been asked before, but anyone know what time Trump's scheduled to speak? cos as all good mouseketeers know, it's anything could happen day.

Tom Semmens

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 10:41:40 +1200

Speaking of wierd NZ links, this guy loves NZ and loves Trump.

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 10:41:06 +1200

Day four live – the acceptance speech is coming
What time will Mr Trump speak?
In prime time of course. The exact timing will depend on how long other speakers take before him but expect to see Mr Trump emerging, probably through some dry ice to the sound of Queen’s…

Jason Kemp

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 10:29:28 +1200

Some one has done the math on that speech and says There’s a 1 in 87 billion chance Melania didn’t rip off Michelle An Astrophysicist Used Math To Show Melania Trump Stole Her Speech

The earlier story I mentioned about Trumps ghostwriter mentioned how impossible it was to get any…

Joe Wylie

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 09:40:20 +1200

Jack Ohman

Craig Ranapia

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 08:06:24 +1200

Yes, there’s a little preface where Alinsky makes a wry reference to Lucifer as “the original radical”, but that was enough for Dr Ben. It was hilarious

OK, my first reaction was to snark Tweet along the lines that at least you know what Satan stands for and he does…

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 07:52:15 +1200

Tom Tomorrow

Russell Brown

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 07:41:21 +1200

You forgot to mention that former candidate Ben Carson has attempted to ‘two-degrees-of-separation’ Hilary Clinton with Lucifer. As best I can make out, because she wrote her thesis on Saul Alinsky, and because Saul Alinsky’s book ‘rules for radicals’ acknowledges Lucifer, that clearly makes her a witch.

Yes, there's a…

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 07:40:26 +1200

Venus rising…
As best I can make out, because she wrote her thesis on Saul Alinsky…
…and some of Michelle Obama’s speech that Mrs Trump’s speechifier-general purloined also contained Alinskyisms!!
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/07/19/melania-trump-plagiarism-hillary-biden-barack-michelle/
Barack himself being a convert to Community Activism and Organising – and God forbid anyone should work for the…

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 07:14:30 +1200

Personally, I’d need to weigh her against a duck before I was convinced.
to expand...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrzMhU_4m-g
...strikingly like scenes from the RNC – especially the grasp of logic!

Do they have 'cucking-stools' by their 'weigh-houses' in Cleveland (also home of Howard the Duck! )

Joe Wylie

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 06:00:02 +1200

Porn viewership hits all-time high in Cleveland during RNC after GOP declares it a public health crisis

""In time she learned to recognize them by subtle symptoms – tight lips, shifty eyes, and a pallor that comes from sitting around in stuffy rooms reading Playboy magazine and the Bible -…

Rich Lock

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 01:13:23 +1200

Also worthy of mention: Laura Ingraham's 'nazi salute' (realistically, probably just an awkward wave. Probably. Maybe....?)

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/07/21/laura_ingraham_gives_seeming_nazi_salute_to_image_of_trump.html

Rich Lock

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 23:18:00 +1200

BREAKING!

Porn viewership hits all-time high in Cleveland during RNC after GOP declares it a public health crisis

[[http://gawker.com/my-week-stripping-in-cleveland-during-the-rnc-1783863633|
This week, Republicans descended on Cleveland, and so did tons of strippers.....It’s well known that Republicans make it rain, and girls like me make the quadrennial pilgrimage to the Republican National…

Rich Lock

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 23:12:00 +1200

It just seems like a real lowering of the bar on what’s acceptable.

You forgot to mention that former candidate Ben Carson has attempted to 'two-degrees-of-separation' Hilary Clinton with Lucifer. As best I can make out, because she wrote her thesis on Saul Alinsky, and because Saul Alinsky's book 'rules…

Joe Wylie

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 22:23:49 +1200

Also a strange link to Auckland zoo.

According to Nicholas Von Hoffman's Citizen Cohn biography, Roy Cohn was given to introducing his NZ-born lover as "Sir Peter Fraser, Prime Minister of New Zealand".

Hilary Stace

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 22:08:54 +1200

This NY Times article has probably already been posted several times but it explains a lot. How Senator McCarthy's lawyer became Trump's mentor. Also a strange link to Auckland zoo.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/21/us/politics/donald-trump-roy-cohn.html?_r=0

Allan Moyle

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 20:51:45 +1200

The whole Trump circus feeling like a long Alice down the rabbit hole trip.

nzlemming

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 19:56:37 +1200

https://youtu.be/Wh1wctQNKRM
For those who haven't seen it yet

nzlemming

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 19:51:59 +1200

BREAKING!

Porn viewership hits all-time high in Cleveland during RNC after GOP declares it a public health crisis

/me Points upstream and laughs

Russell Brown

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 19:16:49 +1200

BREAKING!

Porn viewership hits all-time high in Cleveland during RNC after GOP declares it a public health crisis

Russell Brown

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 19:02:43 +1200

The story of today was Cruz’s coded (but very obvious to the faithful) encouragement for people to “vote your conscience” (i.e.: not Trump). He was jeered off the stage and the crowd seemed surly thereafter. The Trump camp then went through a variety of responses, first claiming that they knew…

Russell Brown

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 18:56:25 +1200

One exploded with excitement, the other barely noticed the story.

Paddy actually wrote a hot take demanding that Trump must now resign or be dumped. Bless.

Ian Dalziel

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 18:49:17 +1200

Patrick Gower versus Jack Tame was an amusing contrast for local eyes. One exploded with excitement, the other barely noticed the story. (
Patrick Gower looked like a closet Republican, stepping out at last!
I find his gleeful 'reportage' unbalanced and disconcerting...

simon g

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 18:40:29 +1200

Worse (for Trump) than the plagiarism was the reporting of it, with all visual media spending over 24 hours showing a split screen of two speeches – a confident, impressive speaker on the right and a stiff autocue reader on the left. Michelle Obama looked and sounded like somebody you’d…

Joshua Arbury

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 17:53:42 +1200

I thought the plagiarism was nothing compared to the rick-rolling, which seemed obvious evidence of sabotage.

How does that fit into our conspiracy theories?

BenWilson

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 17:50:42 +1200

Trump's ghostwriters thought they were too goodthinkful to end up in Miniluv. But just as Newspeak erases all Oldspeak, so unpersoning erases the people who invented it.

Now, back to the Hate Week.

BenWilson

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 16:45:16 +1200

that is not atypical, nor is it “a small effort”.

It's a small effort compared to trying to overthrow a fascist regime. Which could be what is at stake here.

Russell Brown

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 16:22:10 +1200

I feel I should quote Trump's Razor in full:

"Ascertain the stupidest possible scenario that can be reconciled with the available facts"

I really think Josh has captured something here.

nzlemming

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 15:33:38 +1200

It's a long way to November...

Alfie

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 14:22:01 +1200

As you might expect from a party getting behind the orange misogynist, the RNC has some tasteful merchandise on offer.

Alan Perrott

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 14:03:11 +1200

wow, looked like things were about to kick off as Cruz got to the standard god blesses kiss off without an endorsement. top telly.

nzlemming

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 13:48:39 +1200

Raybon Kan is on fire today

nzlemming

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 13:28:59 +1200

Teeheehee #Iam12
http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2016/07/20/add-record-breaking-porn-viewership-to-the-list-of-things-happening-during-rnc

william blake

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 12:56:13 +1200

Trump the bright reflector of their image

Pond scum?

Septic tank.

Russell Brown

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 12:12:14 +1200

Or possibly, she's real and an "Alan Smithee". Loyal employee and all that.

Ian Dalziel

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 12:09:41 +1200

The power to cloud men's minds...
The Shadow was written by many people under the publisher's house name of 'Maxwell Grant' – originally coined by Walter B. Gibson but used by four other writers as well...
...Shadow stories probably rival Trump's hero Horatio Alger for output...

Dylan Reeve

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:58:35 +1200

So possibilities I see:

– McIver is real, and did in fact ghost-write the speech that Melania claimed she wrote herself.

– McIver is real, and is being put out as a lightning rod to take the heat off Melania or speechwriters Trump needs.

– McIver is a composite personality…

linger

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:48:41 +1200

Would a professional writer really do that?Assuming McIver actually had anything to do with the process, it’s only plausible if (i) McIver was unaware of Michelle Obama’s speech, and
(ii) Mrs Trump, speaking over the phone, did not attribute her quotes.
(Indicating scope of quotations, in speech, is admittedly difficult.)

Russell Brown

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:47:04 +1200

Okay the Facebook page is dated six hours ago, the same time as the Trump statement was released. Quick fake, imo.

Russell Brown

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:37:48 +1200

If I’m following correctly it went something like this:

You missed one step – the NY Times report, which named Matthew Scully and John McConnell as the original speechwriters:

This account of how a speech written by professionals was transformed into the problematic version delivered on Monday night at the…

nzlemming

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:37:32 +1200

We've gone beyond strange when Piers Morgan is a reliable source ;-)

Russell Brown

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:32:23 +1200

From Piers Morgan's Twitter:

Yes, I have had numerous email exchanges with her since March 2013, Her title on emails: 'Staff Writer, Media.'

And:

For clarity's sake she's emailed me for 3 years on behalf of Donald Trump, including 5 minutes ago.

Russell Brown

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:30:13 +1200

It’s useful but not omniscient. Also, many sites put up a robot.txt file prohibiting it crawling them.

Not the site in question though, which has been crawled for 14 years. The now-deleted McIver profile is the only one I could find which has been archived only once, yesterday. Would a…

Ian Dalziel

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:30:07 +1200

I am Meredith McIver!

nzlemming

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:27:15 +1200

Genius!

Ian Dalziel

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:25:18 +1200

Trump... posing as his own spokespeople “John Miller” and “John Barron”
Who knew that Trump was a New Worlds or SciFi reader – grabbing a pseudonym from Norman Spinrad's 1969 novel Bug Jack Barron about a TV host running for president...

Rosemary McDonald

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:22:48 +1200

But the Trump campaign’s explanation was dubious .... and the other stuff is odd too.

And the 2016 Award for the Understatement of the Year goes to.....

Congratulations, Russell Brown!

(PS. This is work ;-) )

nzlemming

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:22:24 +1200

Yup. It's like they only exist in the moment.

Dylan Reeve

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:14:45 +1200

If I'm following correctly it went something like this:

– Melania says in interview on Trumpforce 1 that she wrote the speech herself with "as little help as possible"
– Melania delivers her speech, and some of Michelle Obamas
– Trump campaign says Melania's "team of writers" looked at things…

nzlemming

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:11:57 +1200

The Wayback machine isn't very useful though – it's far from an exhaustive index and often only crawls things after it is told to, or finds links on various sources

It's useful but not omniscient. Also, many sites put up a robot.txt file prohibiting it crawling them.

Russell Brown

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:11:21 +1200

Are you suggesting that Trump does his own writing, or that someone other than Meredith McIver is his ghost writer?

I don't know!

But the Trump campaign's explanation was dubious (and contradicts the explanation given by multiple campaign sources to the New York Times) and the other stuff is odd…

nzlemming

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:10:19 +1200

Are you suggesting that Trump does his own writing, or that someone other than Meredith McIver is his ghost writer?

Nice sarcasm. Tony Schwartz approves.

Russell Brown

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:07:43 +1200

Nope that’s the archive’s date (see, it’s in the archive.org page URL too).

Yes, someone answered that question for me on twitter. Was just about to update.

Ian Dalziel

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:05:36 +1200

Trump the bright reflector of their image
Pond scum?
:- )

Graeme Edgeler

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:03:43 +1200

Are you suggesting that Trump does his own writing, or that someone other than Meredith McIver is his ghost writer?

Dylan Reeve

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 10:59:05 +1200

In the source code of the archived page, most of the resources have this datestamp.

web/20160720191823cs

I’m not sure whether that signifies the original creation date, though.

Nope that’s the archive’s date (see, it’s in the archive.org page URL too).

Russell Brown

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 10:31:21 +1200

The top of the bio on the now-deleted speaker profile both suggests it’s been there since the first season of The Apprentice and sounds a lot like the whole John Miller thing:

Meredith McIver is a close associate to the world famous real estate titan and recent TV Impresario Donald…

william blake

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 10:15:17 +1200

Ian I was just pondering that myth in relation to this madness. A friend sent a link to that Trump quote about the Republican voters being stupid and would believe all / any of his bullshit. This makes the Republicans Narcissus and Trump the bright reflector of their image, next…

Russell Brown

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 10:13:25 +1200

Update: The Meredith McIver bio has now disappeared from the All American Speakers website.

Russell Brown

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 10:10:38 +1200

So if the Meredith McIver page was linked from news sites recently, then that might be why the Wayback machine has only just noticed it.

I did wonder about that. But All American Speakers itself has been crawled by the Wayback Machine for the past 14 years and I can't…

izogi

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 09:58:55 +1200

Thinking of the title, to be fair it's not really literal.

Or is it?

Dylan Reeve

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 09:51:48 +1200

The Wayback machine isn't very useful though – it's far from an exhaustive index and often only crawls things after it is told to, or finds links on various sources. So if the Meredith McIver page was linked from news sites recently, then that might be why the Wayback machine…

Rosemary McDonald

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 09:44:49 +1200

Who would have thought that so many could jump down the rabbit hole at the same time?

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?"…

Russell Brown

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 09:30:38 +1200

Okay … I thought I was going to get some work done today, but maybe not.

As you may have heard on the news, the Trump campaign, having denied there was any plagiarism in Melania’s speech at all, has now found someone to dive under the bus: Trump ghostwriter Meredith…

Moz

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 08:50:29 +1200

the people who don't usually vote to make the small effort required

If only it was a small effort. Spending a few days or weeks finding documentation, saving a weeks income, submitting both to a bureaucracy designed to work against your interests, in the hope of being allowed to take…

BenWilson

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 08:26:02 +1200

I can only hope this is frightening enough to the people who don't usually vote to make the small effort required to save their country and their lives.

andin

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 07:35:33 +1200

"Insane" "crazy"
No wrong, well almost right.
This is what madness looks like when masquerading as sanity.
As most of these persons think they are a pinnacle and even a last bastion of sanity!
Seeing it from that perspective it makes a perverse kind of rationale to them and to…

Ian Dalziel

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 06:30:11 +1200

I see a Trump aide has offered to resign over Melania's speech:
"Over the phone, she read me some passages from Mrs. Obama's speech as examples. I wrote them down and later included some of the phrasing in the draft that ultimately became the final speech. I did not check…

nzlemming

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 00:12:43 +1200

Carson doubles down on the crazy http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/ben-carson-brings-lucifer-the-political-conversation?cid=sm_fb_maddow

nzlemming

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 23:53:00 +1200

Berkeley Breathed is doing his best. My world became better when he started publishing again.

AndrewJ

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 22:27:18 +1200

Unfortunately the only journalist with the requisite skillset and drug capacity to even attempt to makes sense of the absolutely terrifying and surreal spectacle that is the RNC has been dead for more than a decade. RIP Hunter S

Kumara Republic

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 18:54:15 +1200

Here in the UK, too. Our new unelected PM, when some MPs spoke up against the renewal of Trident in the debate yesterday, had this in response: “Sadly...some members of the Labour party, seem to be the first to defend the country’s enemies”.

Theresa May's remarks on nuclear strikes echo…

Rich Lock

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 18:39:48 +1200

Also "denial and attack" has become the default approach for an awful lot of politicians

Here in the UK, too. Our new unelected PM, when some MPs spoke up against the renewal of Trident in the debate yesterday, had this in response: __“Sadly...some members of the Labour party, seem to…

Matthew Poole

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 14:07:56 +1200

Another anecdote here

Having this morning read the New Yorker piece that Jason quoted, reading that Guardian piece is quite the mind-fuck, what with all the quotes from “The Art of the Deal” that are treated as being Trump’s own words.

Zach Bagnall

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 13:27:37 +1200

Paul Ryan recognizing and pitching to the evaporating middle class.

Russell Brown

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 12:46:37 +1200

who’s the live band there? – sounds like The Commodores!

You should've heard them yesterday – they played David Bowie's 'Station to Station'. No, really, they did.

Mike O'Connell

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 12:22:36 +1200

He dragged the term “New American Century” out of some fetid neocon cellar,

Oh yes, the Project for the New American Century idea. One wonders if Trump is also creating space on his front bench for the likes of arch neocons like Richard Perle, head until…

Rosemary McDonald

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 12:20:38 +1200

Weird echo?

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 12:16:39 +1200

Jeez – Ryan doesn't even know how to use a gavel!!
he held the head and used the handle on the table!

Trump also used the Queen song without permission
http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7445695/queen-trump-rnc-we-are-the-champions-unauthorized

who's the live band there? – sounds like The Commodores!

Rosemary McDonald

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 12:13:05 +1200

Trump seemed driven entirely by a need for public attention.

Another anecdote here...

I lean over as we’re talking and I realise everything he’s looking at is an article about himself. In fact at several points in the conversation Donald got so excited about what he was reading about himself…

linger

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 12:01:51 +1200

The Trump camp= campylobacter.
“There is a disease … that is tearing apart the lies of thousands …”

Jason Kemp

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 11:48:06 +1200

How to explain how anyone could consciously vote for Trump. Still inexplicable to me. The only possible reason that makes any sense is that voters in the U.S have given up on the system and they are voting to screw the system completely.

I’d imagine that a percentage of voters…

Rosemary McDonald

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 11:41:27 +1200

Logic would dictate

Logic? Logic???!!!

At what point did logic sneak in???

Geoff Lealand

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 11:21:49 +1200

... for I fear it will lead to regurgitation of this morning's porridge

Geoff Lealand

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 11:19:26 +1200

I think I will stop at can't--watch

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 11:09:58 +1200

The jumbuck stops here!
the default setting for the Coalition in Australia
Even down by the billabong
the swagmen are swilling
'denier billy tea'...

Moz

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 11:09:56 +1200

There is a norovirus outbreak at the Republican National Congress.

If I soil myself from laughing too hard at that, does that mean I've got the same virus?

Also "denial and attack" has become the default approach for an awful lot of politicians, mostly those on the authoritarian side of…

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 11:06:44 +1200

Chief of Staph*?
... uncontrollable vomiting and loss of bowel control...
Where's the shade of Hunter S. Thompson when ya need him...?
or to paraphrase Laurie Anderson
Anguish is a virus...

The Trump camp trying to claim that no one could seriously expect a Trump to say something unoriginal or…

Hugh Wilson

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 10:59:20 +1200

Unfortunately 'denial and attack' has pretty much become the default setting for the Coalition in Australia whenever someone disagrees with them .... so many examples its depressing, so I won't bother listing any

David Hood

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 10:45:36 +1200

Clearly the FDA is ineffective and should be disbanded.

Russell Brown

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 10:08:47 +1200

How long before they start blaming disgruntled migrants for conspiring to poison them?

Logic would dictate that this has already happened.

Kumara Republic

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 10:03:44 +1200

There is a norovirus outbreak at the Republican National Congress. To be fair, uncontrollable vomiting and loss of bowel control would be a reasonable response to the contents of the convention's first day.

"This is insane," I tweeted yesterday as I watched three people get up and tell their stories…

Public Address

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 10:03:44 +1200

Discussion from blog post.