The nation may survive, but the wound to hope and order will never fully heal - US elections 2016: the october surprises

From the Perlstein inteview:

[i]On the question of Trump’s uniqueness, how do you compare him to George Wallace, who you have written about?

Wallace was a competent administrator. [Laughs.]

OK, so zero for one.

He really was able to keep the trains running on time and manage a complex governmental unit in the form of the State of Alabama. Points to George Wallace there. But his ability and willingness to spur his audiences and constituency to whatever rage it took to empower himself is quite similar. Also, Wallace had so much more to work with. Compare the riots in Baltimore over Freddie Gray in which one CVS went up in flames to the riots in Chicago in 1968, where literally two straight miles of Madison Street, the main street through the black South Side, was rubble. A lot of this stuff Trump has to kind of, I wouldn’t say invent, because he certainly believes it’s true, but when he says that American cities are more dangerous than Afghanistan, it’s just nonsense. George Wallace could say that violent crime had quadrupled since he was a kid and he’d be right.

it's not a character xp

it's not a character!

it's a tumor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaTO8_KNcuo

Trump is wholly reactive. He's possibly more personable in a private setting among, like, his family or something. But when he's in public and surrounded by people baying for blood and thunder, that's what he delivers

xxxposts Fascists tend to stoke fantasies of fascist comeuppance in me. It's a personal failing, admittedly, but it's all ultimately just a lampoon. I don't honestly want Trump to be kept in a medium sized cardboard box and poked by a stick but it's a fun visual to conjure up.

How is Trump so in character all the time? Like even the stupidest or rudest people I've met/seen are still more human in certain settings.

Yeah, some other dude from history was an animal lover, too, iirc.

I wasn't implying that he is "pretending" in any way, just amazed that before Trump it seemed no matter how anyone presents themselves publicly, you could imagine they'd have some relatively relatable human moments when not in the spotlight. Pretty hard to imagine him not completely at peak Trump even during the most mundane moments.

Another man there was, made the walls build on time

Yeah, some other dude from history was an animal lover, too, iirc.

― Alito Shuffle (Old Lunch)

you're talking about francis of assisi, right?

I wonder if Trump even orders sandwiches in Trump-speak.

He's a very against-pickles sub eater.

We're gonna have the best lettuce, believe me, simply amazing

has stunt casting the debate audience been a thing in the past?

no--but didn't Reagan have newsworthy people in the audience during his state of the unions?

that still happens but it tends to be more uplifting in intent. the theatricality of planting theoretically upsetting people in the debate audience is so schlocky, like a TV lawyer trick

It's pretty much on the same level as what guests are invited to the State of the Union address.

Reagan started the practice of inviting honored guests

Ah, honor.

Meantime, Wilson dropped another hint last night:

https://twitter.com/TheRickWilson/status/788598825476849664

huh. I guess I haven't paid enough attention to the trolling-ness of those SOU choices

Wow, how did I already forget Michael Cohen's hyperhatable face?

but still, do members of Congress get to invite honored guests to the SOU who are there to explicitly throw the president off their game? anyway, not that debates are sacred or something, it just seems like a pretty embarrassing practice to become normalized

but still, do members of Congress get to invite honored guests to the SOU who are there to explicitly throw the president off their game?

Yup. This is how you get one of the Duck Dynasty dudes at an Obama SOU.

ok lol I definitely missed that

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/state-of-the-union-guests-duck-dynasty-willie-robertson-102725

Anyway, Mr. Pareene:

http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/the-election-is-done-by-the-way-1787947551

Le Tigre reunites for a one-off Hillary song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLGFyxAP0QE

That latest Rick Wilson tease-tweet, the "aren't even women he'd be attracted to" as the premise of the story he is linking...

Maybe it's that Trump had a fling with a dude?

xp also note the horrified posts in the Le Tigre thread

If he had a fling with Michael Cohen, THAT would be revolting.

the wait for Rick Wilson video story expose thingy is worse than the wait for NX :-(

xxp and http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/01/anti-gay-marriage-stand-lands-kim-davis-at-sotu.html

oh man that le tigre thing...

Yeah, it's bad.

so ... its Le Tigre?

Maybe it's that Trump had a fling with a dude?

My money is on Bill Clinton

I love Kathleen but yeesh

xp

This is how you get one of the Duck Dynasty dudes at an Obama SOU.

Obama should have counter-trolled by inviting a duck imho

The new Julie Ruin is great, but that song is straight-up amateur hour.

On the 'shits and giggles' side of things

https://twitter.com/leyawn/status/788767824592379904

lmao

can't believe the Dems buckled to O'Keefe yet again, how is that guy not in jail

So a guest of Trump's tonight will be...Wayne Newton!

Which led to this:

https://twitter.com/AnnieLowrey/status/788756188103974912

Uh so hey everyone, remember how we were all 'LOL' at remembering Eminem's "Mosh" yesterday?

http://www.complex.com/music/2016/10/eminem-new-song-campaign-speech

Em goes in for over seven minutes on the track

oh dear

That latest Rick Wilson tease-tweet, the "aren't even women he'd be attracted to" as the premise of the story he is linking...

This fuckin' guy.

i know it's been said but good lord that le tigre thing is fucking terrible

Em goes in for over seven minutes on the track

no thank you!#!!!

In response, Trump has commissioned Skrewdriver for his campaign song