US Politics, June 2020 — You have to dominate.

I wonder if he hasn't volunteered Mar-a-Lago because ... management recommended against it, due to health concerns and potential liability?

Mar-a-Lago has bedbugs, and if I were the exterminating company I'd insist on conventioneer stay there while it's under fumigation.

a big tent party indeed

"The Lying About Donald Trump is Now Completely Out of Control"

He said that he didn't want to do it at Doral because the ballroom isn't big enough.

I have zero interest in moving the Republican National Convention to Doral in Miami, as falsely reported by the Fake News @nytimes in order to stir up trouble. Ballroom is not nearly big enough & would like to stay in N.C., whose gov. doesn’t even know if he can let people in? https://t.co/nqBBPv4VXS

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2020

Well, between the conventioneers and bedbugs, how would they fit in one space?

Lots of terrible, bloodsucking, smelly, shit-leaving insects....and also bedbugs.

polyticks

if he wants to 'dominate' he should demand the target center in mpls

more lols:

EXCLUSIVE: Trump and Kushner pushed the National Enquirer to investigate that bogus Joe Scarborough 'murder' story. The tabloid dug — and found it was total bullshit. https://t.co/siMc6tvUO3

— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) June 3, 2020

xp

if he were a true leader he would wear a hat and shirt with a large target logo on it

“If there was something there we would’ve bit into it and stayed with it,” this tabloid veteran insisted, requesting anonymity owing to AMI’s notoriously ironclad non-disclosure agreements and reported retaliation against staffers who have publicly spoken out about the company.

“The basic direction we were given by the editors was since you’ve gone left and focused on the dead girl and that hasn’t been fruitful now go right and focus on the affair,” the ex-staffer recalled, referring to Scarborough’s romantic relationship with his co-host Brzezinski, which was the subject of rumors before the pair finally made it public following her divorce. “It was clear there was an agenda driving it but it wasn’t clear to us by who and what the big picture was.”

The Enquirer reporters were unable to meet the tabloid’s notoriously low bar for publication even after consulting with tabloid-friendly experts such as forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht and private investigator Paul Huebl, who once claimed to the supermarket rag that actor Verne Troyer, best known for portraying “Mini Me” in the Austin Powers film series, was murdered after cops ruled his death a suicide.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/03/us/politics/steve-king-iowa-primary.html

we shall fight in the bunkers and the twitters and we shall never give up

McEnany says Trump's visit to St. John's Monday is on par with Churchill visiting war bunkers and W throwing out the first pitch during the World Series after 9/11.

— Eli Stokols (@EliStokols) June 3, 2020

It's definitely up there with H.W. puking on the Japanese prime minister.

Everytime Ford fell down.

It's up there with the time Dubya read a children's book on 9/11

At least he was pretending to read.

i'm a 9/11 truther

to be clear, i mean that i believe GWB really did read that book. he fucking nailed it!

Thing is, it's completely impossible to imagine Trump successfully reading a children's book to a kindergarten class.

Thing is, it's completely impossible to imagine Trump successfully reading a children's book to a kindergarten class.

oh man I'd love to see him try

oh no I wouldn't.

Thing is, it's completely impossible to imagine Trump successfully reading a children's book to a kindergarten class.

He'd shoo away Secret Service as it would prevent him from hearing through his earpiece, which contains the kids book on tape

Love to give 4 year olds PTSD

Then he would bomb the Tower of Terror

Thing is, it's completely impossible to imagine Trump successfully reading a children's book to a kindergarten class.

shouldn't you have a sign that says "fresh fish sold here today"

I know this will be greeted with derision by some of you, but I'm all for it.

http://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/politics/obama-george-floyd/index.html

I especially hope Trump immediately schedules a press conference or Oval Office address or "Zooming with DJT" forum at the same time, and CNN and MSNBC cover Obama instead (which they obviously would, so he won't).

A data point.

RCP poll leads on this day in history:

2020: Biden +8.0
2016: Clinton +1.5
2012: Obama +1.3
2008: Obama +1.4

I think people generally remember the Obama wins as much easier and more predictable than they were.

— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) June 3, 2020

My only sliver of doubt about Obama's eventual 2008 victory came exactly ten hours after Sarah Palin's RNC debut.

In 2012, most doubts dissipated after the spring. I wasn't much rattled by Obama's first debate performance.

I had no doubt Clinton would win in 2016.

Kerry was +1.6

I disassociated for the latter half of 2003 and all of 2004 so I can't remember what my expectations were that summer.

dissociated*

the 2012 win wasn't a surprise, but it definitely came a bit easier than the conventional wisdom suspected

If only Dems controlled the House, they could investigate deployment of military in Washington, maybe figure out the deal with "federal law enforcement officers" who won't identify themselves, get answers on DEA role in investigating protests. Subpoena Milley, Barr, Esper, etc https://t.co/uHqRGkeAMo

— 'Weird Alex' Pareene (@pareene) June 3, 2020

Yes. The House Committees could issue subpoenas, which Barr would instruct all federal employees to ignore. Then the House could sue for compliance and take it all the way to the Supreme Court! Then Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh would vote to back Barr, leaving John Roberts to play the Swing Vote role again. Maybe issuing an opinion by next June. Hotcha!

lots of federal employees have already ignored executive branch instructions not to testify before house committees.

https://www.justsecurity.org/66742/why-officials-keep-testifying-despite-white-house-counsels-letter-on-impeachment-inquiry/

xp Aimless that’s no reason not to do it

if not for the short-term than for history every one of their obstructions needs to go on the record

the 2012 win wasn't a surprise, but it definitely came a bit easier than the conventional wisdom suspected

― voodoo chili, Wednesday, June 3, 2020 4:52 PM bookmarkflaglink

it was touch and go for a bit after the first debate! much of the data was just a temporary spike that corrected itself, and most of the prognosticators like 538, NYT, PEC, Drew Linzer et al did have Obama as the slight favorite throughout Sept/October, but it was close enough that dumb conservatives actually thought they were winning, and Rasmussen actually forecasted a Romney electoral victory a few weeks before the election. My friend got invited to a Free At Last party by a delusional Romney stan that was convinced they were going to win.

I definitely wasn't shocked when it happened, as by election week, Obama had started to pull away and 538 gave him better odds than Clinton had on election day, but we were all very nervous iirc in the election thread, whereas Obama was pretty much the favorite as soon as Palin showed up.

normal decision tree

Only a couple hours ago, the AP reported that the Pentagon was beginning to send regular Army troops deployed to DC back to their home bases. Now Secretary Esper has abruptly reversed that order. Seems very likely that the White House found out – quite possibly from the news report – and ordered Esper to reverse course.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/remarkable-remarkable

what's the over/under on how long it would take a lame-duck GOP Senate to change the SCOTUS confirmation rules back to what they were before they changed them in 2017 to confirm Gorsuch and Kavanaugh...if Dems took the Senate.

Obama was pretty much the favorite as soon as Palin showed up.

Palin was less a factor in 2008 than McCain's near-paralysis in the face of the financial collapse in September/October. With Republicans holding power for 8 straight years, it was impossible to deflect responsibility for the collapse onto the Democrats. Bush lost what was left of his public support as Wall Street burned and the TARP was unveiled, and he took McCain down with him because McCain wasn't free to repudiate his party's leadership.

Aimless, I slightly disagree. McCain absolutely was in a position to repudiate party leadership because as The Maverick he could've done, but instead his intellectual sloth, moral torpor, and general stupidity prevented him. No Republican would've won in 2008, let's be clear, but McCain could've done better if he hadn't been Overrated John McCain.

Mad Dog is mad:
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/06/james-mattis-denounces-trump-protests-militarization/612640/

so The Maverick wasn't always 100% bullshit? xp

Holy shit Mattis

“Devoir de reserve” Mattis (https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/10/james-mattis-trump/596665/)