So Trump revealed his witness today. Let's look at his history:

Private Eye Street Of Shame: Mr Gilberthorpe’s Tory paedo files

Also, he was 17 at the time, and flying in first class? This is a bad joke.

I'd guess it's for the same reason that no one teases Obama for having tiny hands.


When after two days it's the best evidence in your favor you can come up with you may as well go for it.

The group behind those signs is off-the-walls crazy. The guy who leads it is a black man who believes Obama is a figure from the Bible sent here to kill the world. He also considers child support to be a form of slavery.

Here's one of his old websites.

Latin Black & White Must Unite!!!! | Just another WordPress.com site

And he's probably more credible than the guy they just announced as a witness to refute the airplane allegations.

Yeah, we all vividly remember those flights with photographic memory from 30 years ago where nothing extraordinary happened... :rolleyes:

Wasn't planning on voting for HRC but if I see trump thugs at my polling place I may consider it.

CBC ran an interview this evening with a journalism professor who indicated the People reporter had told him about her Trump encounter within hours of it happening. He advised her at the time not to pursue it as Trump would likely try try to ruin her career. Seems he was right.

A bit of a detour...

Down the street from me last weekend a couple, wife 7 months pregnant, lost everything in a fire hours after they moved in the last box to their new place. The fire was started next door from an illegal kitchen.

Anyway, there is a gofund me. It's been an amazing thing to behold in this particularly awful political month. Without asking who they are voting for, if they are legal, etc. the neighborhood has rallied around them. Most donations are anonymous. And the comments are: I have baby clothes for you, we have a spare room, we can bring you food, etc.

I really hope in 24 days we can once again use the light we all have in us to show the good we do and not as torch just exposing the monsters we think are in town.

end of rant.

Private Eye Street Of Shame: Mr Gilberthorpe’s Tory paedo files


EXTREME VETTING

Pedophilia accusations seem to be popping up way too frequently these days. Maybe Eyes Wide Shut was more truthful than I thought and Donald Trump is to this what Jose Canseco was to steroids. (This is the claim that I'm suspicious of, on both sides, though it is clear that both men ran in the same circle as Epstein before he went to jail.)

Donald Trump will face child rape charges in court, says lawyer for alleged victim | The Independent

Bill Clinton jumped aboard 'Lolita Express' for junkets along with Jeffrey Epstein | Daily Mail Online

This popped up on my FB feed. It's from someone in my home town, and it's very representative of the "support" I've seen for Trump and the tribalism that we were recently discussing. I think for the liberals on the board in particular, this is worth a read for the instructional value, if nothing else. I think this is precisely the sort of thinking that is behind the comments that Carson made yesterday. While he didn't address the sexual assault allegations directly, it's pretty clear that to this guy (and to Carson,) it's not about who Trump is or what he does, and as such, it appears to be completely immaterial to him if Trump committed sexual assault. So, yeah, if you think that liberal Supreme Court justices are about the worst thing that could happen to this country, "it doesn't matter if she's telling the truth" about the allegations.

Honest question - is there a left-wing counterpart to this sort of stuff?
Things that the left is saying that Trump (or the too-conservative-for-them flavor of the month) would do if elected, that are pretty demonstrably both not being argued for, and obviously not politically viable?

The back-to-the-coat-hanger-abortion trope is about the best I can conjure off the top of my head, but even that at least fits with a position taken by many on the other side (it just fails the viability test).

I suspect I'm just missing things... there's plenty of despicability on both side of the aisle.

What's interesting is that there's no indication that this guy is some way-out-there uneducated conspiracy theorist. I don't know him (it showed up on my feed because one of our many mutual friends re-posted,) but based on his job title and the recent renaming of the business, it's obvious that he replaced one of my very good friends and mentors (who was a groomsman at my wedding) as one of the partners in a very successful real estate firm when my friend retired (my friend's last name was recently replaced with this guy's last name.) I know the other three partners as well, and I am quite confident that they wouldn't share partnership with a nutjob or a nitwit. And beyond that, here's a quick capsule of a few of the people I know who "liked", responded positively, or re-posted the above:

1. Another one of my groomsmen. He's a bank exec in his early 50s. (I related the story here back in July of having lunch with five other guys in Columbus, four of whom were all planning to hold their nose and vote for Trump. He was one of the guys at that lunch and clearly he's still a nose-holder.)
2. One of the smartest people I knew in Junior High. He's a year older than me. We were in the gifted program together. He's an Aerospace Engineering grad from GT.
3. A Mortgage company VP Liked it. High school friend. Have hung out with her/her family multiple times in adulthood. Perfectly pleasant/normal folks.
4. Georgia State Senator Seth Harp gave it a Like.

Of course, that's not the suggest that the "Likes" indicate 100% agreement with the most out-there stuff, but clearly there's *something* causing otherwise-reasonable people to stick with Trump regardless of what he says/does and with eyes wide open to what a scumbag he is. We're that divided, folks.

Well, it's the internet. I'm sure you can find some liberal somewhere spouting off something roughly equivalent, though I'm not sure exactly what it would be. Probably something along the lines of Trump will suspend the Constitution, invoke martial law, and start rounding people up into deportation camps like the Nazis did.

If one is absolutely terrified that replacing Antonin Scalia with Merrick Garland will result in a Court that forces the States to allow first trimester abortions without exception then yes, I kinda-sorta get the "hold my nose" vote for Trump.

Anyone who thinks that a barely-left-of-center Clinton Presidency with a likely 50/50 Senate and a probable GOP House is going to run roughshod over 1st and 2nd amendment rights, raise taxes by double-digits, to say nothing of the things posted by the guy you quote are simply products of the GOP's normalization of the conspiracy theory wing of the party for the purpose of driving out votes. There is simply no similar movement on the left. The Occupiers and the Bernie Bros were the only things that came remotely close, and it was pretty weak at that.

I mean, can you fix that kind of stupid? Kill old people, allow after birth abortions (that may be the dumbest thing I've heard). For a group of religious people so hell bent on controlling a pregnant woman's body, I find it deplorable that they mostly oppose all the things that could help prevent it. Look a Colorado's free IUD program and birth control, drastically reduced unwanted pregnancy levels, abortions, and saved the state money. But we can't do that because ABSTINENCE!

When my wife and I were having issues getting pregnant, we saw an adoption counselor who told us it could take over $50k, over 3 years, and we still may not get a baby. Maybe turn the focus off of a supreme court that decided something 40 years ago and has held despite conservative appointments, and actually focus on the cause. Oh, because then they could not scare dopey people like that guy in your facebook feed to vote for them.

It's a toxic combination of elements.

--Angry supporters who distrust "the system" in general
--Hated opponent
--Candidate possibly too insecure to accept defeat

Awesome. Headed over to Twitter after making that post. First thing to pop up in my feed?

What Trump is fomenting at his rallies. https://t.co/IVeplKh9Cs pic.twitter.com/xcmh90eIFC

— Mike Signorile (@MSignorile) October 15, 2016

Gracious. Just checked *his* account, all from this morning.

100% fabricated and made-up charges, pushed strongly by the media and the Clinton Campaign, may poison the minds of the American Voter. FIX!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 15, 2016

This election is being rigged by the media pushing false and unsubstantiated charges, and outright lies, in order to elect Crooked Hillary!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 15, 2016

Hillary Clinton should have been prosecuted and should be in jail. Instead she is running for president in what looks like a rigged election

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 15, 2016

I highly doubt that.

Also, I can't help but wonder what he thinks Syrians look like. My guess is anyone who isn't white that doesn't look Mexican to him. And if speaking proper "American" were a prerequisite to voting no way this guy gets to cast a ballot.

Any chance Elon Musk can convince him to go to Mars ? And move up the timetable ?

I've started up a blog where I've been discussing "controversial" topics. Just posted an entry about this stuff:

Concerns About Violence November 8 And Beyond – Uncomfortable Places

The thing is what do Trump's followers think is going to happen if Clinton is assassinated? Trump is going to roll down Penn. Ave in a tank, and take over? Pretty sure he will be arrested and/or killed shortly after such an event. And take over from a Democratic President just like that? I think not.

Maybe they also plan to take out Kaine, which would make the President.... Paul Ryan. That might piss them off even more.

.@realDonaldTrump: "We should take a drug test" before debates, because "I don't know what's going on" with Clinton. https://t.co/Ddqt0LuJBa

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 15, 2016

Given Trump's typical projection this should just about confirm his pre-debate cocaine use.

SNIFF

You are assuming that people who rant about people who don't "speak American" understand the order of succession. ;) And that's not to mention that Mr. Bowman wasn't merely talking about assassinating HRC. He said "coup" with "a lot of bloodshed."Delusions of grandeur? Sure.

Then try this quote from Trump advisor Roger Stone for a little more "action" @Muurits pic.twitter.com/3NrbW73xro

— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) October 15, 2016

Roger Stone clarified that it would be a non-violent bloodbath though.

Paul Ryan just tweeted that women aren't paid enough and the House is going to get to work on that. Meanwhile, he still hasn't withdrawn his Trump endorsement.

The Trump campaign announced that they are cutting ties with the GOP chairman in Ohio.

Yeah, I don't understand.

With their non-existent ground game they don't need the help of the state GOP organization to win a crucial swing state.

Trump also went with the claim that all the women accusing him of sexual assault are liars because no one respects women more than he does. Because even if he is completely innocent noting says respect for women more than explaining how some of them are just too darn ugly for you to have sexually violated them.

He had the "audacity" to criticize Trump after the Access Hollywood tape and other things. He's apparently an ally of John Kasich:

Trump campaign splits with top GOP official in Ohio - POLITICO

Do these idiots understand how elections work in this country? State and local officials are in charge of the elections. So if this is "rigged", it would require a rather large undertaking and involve both Democrats and Republicans working together.

This election cycle has been entertaining. The Supreme Court is something that folks are not paying attention too. Ginsberg should have retired two years ago and allowed Obama to appoint someone in her place who was young enough to serve for 20 years.

It's the same campaign that thinks the nation's fire marshals are conspiring against them, of course they don't know how elections work.

Let's not forget Donald's reaction to the last presidential election.

Wouldn't have been ideologically comparable to Ginsburg. Not unless Reid had gone full nuclear option, with all of the long-term ramifications thereof.

Any replacement would have been stonewalled and filibustered to infinity and beyond. Best Obama would have been able to hope for is a moderate, same as the Scalia opening. His ability to appoint anybody to the left of Garland died with the 2010 elections.

A left leaning moderate ain't bad

I shouldn't be concerned at all, given how local law enforcement officers are helping to calm things down.

It's incredible that our institutions of gov, WH, Congress, DOJ, and big media are corrupt & all we do is bitch. Pitchforks and torches time pic.twitter.com/8G5G0daGVN

— David A. Clarke, Jr. (@SheriffClarke) October 15, 2016

Honestly, I thought this election was funny for a while.

Then I worried that the polls were skewed because people were slightly ashamed of voting Trump.

But now, America, you've jumped the shark. Just can't take this shit seriously any more.

To be fair mate, most of the rest of the world feels the same about Brexit.

That being said, yeah this is pretty pathetic.

:) fair point. I would also add that despite anyone's view on Brexit, the maddest personality was Boris, and while on the surface he is a bit like Trump without the rapey stuff and the violent rhetoric, the important part of that phrase is 'without the rapey stuff and the violent rhetoric'

Dola, both Brexit and POTUS have been abysmal adverts for democracy.
HRC - MO seems to be 'give em enough rope'...
Leave / Remain - both sides ran terrible campaigns and seemingly tried to out-do the other in the brazen lies and fearmongering stakes
Trump. Just no.

Between one of the oldest democracies and one of the greatest countries in the world, we haven't done ourselves any favours in the last six months.

Of course, if you look at Trump's behavior over the past two weeks differently, playing devil's advocate here, you see someone who logically knows the election is lost, but is looking to get the best possible start to his own cable television channel possible. And, to go further, he'll use that platform to either continue to re-make the GOP (becoming a Kingmaker, which he's definitely prefer to being POTUS) or create a replacement for the GOP.

There, QuikSand, I've created the left-wing version of the conspiracies Ben posted. :D

Went to a Catholic Church in fort Walton, FL tonight while on vacation. The priest went on for 20 minutes about how Marxist Communists have infiltrated American politics to erode liberties of Christians.

I dont think the election is lost. You guys see the polls, but who do they call? Rural voters or do they concentrate on urban voters.

I see an election a lot closer then you think. And those tweets by Trump are going to fire people up.

Liberals continue to underestimate Trump. Big mistake. You are so out of touch with rural America.

You should really take a look at 538 and how they measure polls. As of right now this election isn't close and a Trump win would be unprecedented in an American Presidential election.

Trump doesn't need people fired up right now. He needs a miracle.

and about 5 light blue states to turn red, not to mention keeping all of the red states red.

Or, demographics more likely to support Trump are also demographics more likely to respond to polling. Pollsters aren't so stupid to only call people in NYC and LA.

Trump may win. The polls may be wrong. But at this point, the overwhelming likelihood is that Trump will lose.

I can see both those things happening.

EDIT: Before JPhillips post.

I dunno with this "you people" talk started but it just reads really fucking weird in this thread. You're so angry at everyone, but "us liberals" underestimating trump is the way for you to get what you want, isn't this a good thing?

I just don't understand what you want.