Bill Kristol says: Didn’t some poet say that? (Man, all those poems they made us read in high school. So boring.) Anyway, that poet, Eliot something, I guess he was famous for saying this. Must have had a good PR guy.
My two favorite poems tie for first. One is from "Alice in Wonderland - Through the Looking Glass" called "The Jabberwocky." Challenging myself (since poetry can indeed be boring), I decided to try to memorize "The Jabberwocky," but only got as far as the first two stanzas. Whomp, whomp, whomp....
The other poem is Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken." That's because I like to think outside the box 99.9% of the time.
Very useful, channeling Trump. You've got to think like your prey, as they say. Hope you do it some more, as long as you don't get trapped inside him. Caution is advised.
Singing. Stupid songs he’s thinking he can throw enough bullshit on the wall and something is going to stick !
He just shows his insanity one trick pony ! He can’t say very much more then , ummm look they did it I didn’t do it . Dont believe your own eyes believe what I tell you while waving around the invisible accordion and some other mind meld bullshit … take him away already it’s time for jello and diaper change . What is that stink ?
Can you imagine ? I bet the babe’s love it !
Where is his wife ? Kids gone to . Can’t blame them . Fucking disgusting either bullshit out his mouth or ass ! But boy he’s got it all planned out .. yeah . We’ll see best plans of mic’s and men , laugh. Go play a round of golf .
I love Bill Kristol's channeling of Trump channeling a campaign political strategist. It makes getting through this dreary, tense time more bearable. And, even if you do not agree with her, vote for Kamala to stop the Orange Menace!
One of the things that I like about Bill's impressions is that I don't think he falls for the "he is dumb" thing. I think that's a delusion, a comforting one, but very dangerous, and quite possibly why we're still, still, in this mess. He is cunning, a master manipulator, a corrupter of hearts, a seducer, he has half the country under his spell. I'm sorry, but a stupid man cannot do this. A stupid man cannot win the presidency. Cannot. A stupid man cannot destroy one of America's two political parties, from within, inverting all its values in the process, and reinvent it, with nearly all its members also inverted, and utterly now in his thrall. A stupid man cannot attempt to overthrow the government, fail, and yet get away with it. And get away with it. And get away with it. Get away with ALL of it.
There is a not-so-old saying, that dumb psychopaths go to prison; smart psychopaths become doctors, CEOs, conmen, master criminals, dictators, and now the former and quite possibly future president. He's a smart psychopath, He's crazy, not stupid; he's getting demented, sure, but he's still got it. He's neck and neck in the polls! He doesn't care what we think of him. We're not his audience. He doesn't care that he doesn't sound smart, ain't educated. He's not trying to impress us. He's trying to dominate us. Please, everyone, stop underestimating him!
I disagree. He is only a manipulator of the weak. Far from a master, thought he thinks he is. Importantly, is very easy to manipulate, you don't even have to be a master to do it. His ego is very fragile. You can manipulate him by challenging his ego, I hope Harris does this in the debate. He is also very easy to manipulate with flattering his ego. This is what Putin, Xi, Kim and Vance have done.
It might have been him at the beginning, but now it is the club of MAGA rally attenders. They travel for miles to meet up and then leave halfway during his repetitive, boring speeches. They vote for him because they don't want to vote for a "regular politician."
I agree he is very easy to manipulate. Ask Putin, ask those who convinced him to overturn Roe. He thought he would be a hero and now finds what he did is working against him.
Yeah, I think one of the biggest mistakes in modern politics is people *overestimating* him. People call him a master manipulator. He's not, he's a moron who can barely hold a coherent thought in his head. The actual source of Trump's power is that he is *so* stupid and *so* arrogant that he thinks it's okay to do things that society and conventional wisdom decided a long time ago were unacceptable, and by being the first to cross those lines, he ends up finding out that they aren't unacceptable after all. He has done this enough times that it has made him very powerful and very dangerous. No one with any common sense or ability to model risk could ever have gotten as far as Trump has - a smart person would have cashed out years ago, they would have quite reasonably and sensibly thought "okay, there's no way I can get away with it *again,* time to bail". It's one of the reasons I believe that Trump is a unique figure, and that his movement will become dramatically less dangerous once he's gone.
What does that say about society when we have norms that we really want someone to flaunt or violate? Why are the norms there in the first place? Do we just want to protect children from crassness and vulgarity, but adults just want to let it fly? Crudeness and lies----just part of everyday speech? Personally, I can't wait until he joins Roy Cohn in the 9th circle of hell.
It wont happen but I would love a debate question to be how exactly was Kamala "mean to Mike Pence" He just throws this crap out there and no one bats an eyelash. Like NYT they just go on like this is a perfectly normal thing to say. And yes you are absolutely correct, t***p will be nasty and yes Kamala will I hope ignore his race baiting or gender baiting. The whole country needs to see exactly what a piece of filth he is.
Quoting Trump's words to Trump is totally 'unfair'! 'Nasty'. Horrible like nobody has ever seen. (that last bit is true. Nobody has ever seen it, and isn't seeing it now either).
I look at as resembling the debate prep that Harris is probably now undergoing. This one is kind of scary; there's a ring of truth, since Trump, although he is an idiot, has great political instincts.
"I can’t believe all the media idiocy about how Trump has to be careful in dealing with a black woman and he can’t look too mean and all that crap. Are you kidding? What country do they think we’re in? I hope Kamala believes all that stuff about when we go low they should go high. Or that she shouldn’t answer attacks.
So when Dana asked her about my “she’s not really black” line, what did she say? It’s the same old tired playbook. Next question, please. Are you kidding me? You gotta turn the attack around. Because you know what? Otherwise that old playbook works."
Is that Kristol saying that's what Trump thinks or is that Kristol saying what Kristol thinks?
I've heard lots of commentary saying that Harris' handling of this question was perfect. Does Kristol disagree and if so why. If Kristol disagrees, what would he describe as the right way to "turn that attack around"?
Speaking for myself, I agree with Kamala. The "turned Black" attack is so blazingly stupid, that there is no point in attacking it. An attack would not convince one MAGA voter, and I don't think the attack resonates with anyone else.
Please, I beg you, stop the writing as if you are Trump. It is deeply unpleasant. I come here for political analysis, not to pretend I’m seeing the world through Trump colored glasses. I understand you are trying to make some points but please, do it some other way.
Tough love for the Boss: sorry Mr. Kristol, but the Trump Talks impersonation doesn't work. A good impressionist nails the subject's characteristics whilst providing some insightful or surprising thoughts. Your attempt(s) achieve neither and just seems... lazy.
Donald Trump has only said one thing that’s both significant and true since 2015, and that was in response to his handlers recently urging him to focus on issues, not personal attacks and smears.
To which he reportedly and defiantly said:
“I know what I’m doing.”
Translation: I will continue to level bigoted, false and inflammatory attacks at my Democratic rivals, it will work, and I will win.”
The point is: he knows exactly what he’s doing, and always has.
He’s not demented. He’s not confused. Yes, he rambles. Yes, he says inane things, but there’s usually a point behind it. Yes, he can be self-defeating. But that’s not his intent.
His intent is always to further enrich, empower and promote himself, usually at the expense of his many perceived enemies.
But he does know what he’s doing, in the sense of:
He knows when he’s lying, which is the vast majority of the time.
He knows when his words and actions endanger and injure, and sometimes kill others, and he does not care one whit about that.
He knows what he’s doing and he knows what he wants: protection from the law, and absolute power, such as Putin, Orban and Kim Jung Un wield.
He should of course not be underestimated. He is one of the most persuasive and consequential demagogues in history, and he reached the pinnacle of power this way once before.
I could not disagree more. Trump absolutely doesn't know what he's doing. There is not some grand strategy behind what he does. He could be extremely popular and powerful. Yet, he has continually made dumb political choices that limit his power and cause him and his party to lose elections. Trump is an extremely weak general election political candidate because he doesn't know what he's doing. We as a country are so fortunate because Trump is so incredibly dumb. If he were as smart as Hitler, or even Mussolini, we'd be totally screwed.
No, Trump is not some secret genius employing a master strategy on all the topics you suggest. Trump isn't playing four-dimensional political chess. He's playing checkers...and badly at that..
DEAR SIRS.
HAVE TRIED ON MANY OCCASIONS TO CANCEL THIS SO CALLED SUBSCRIPTION WHICH I NEVER SUSCRIBED TO.
PLEASE RETURN ALL THE DEBITS YOU HAVE MADE TO MY NAME.
THANK YOU
Bill Kristol says: Didn’t some poet say that? (Man, all those poems they made us read in high school. So boring.) Anyway, that poet, Eliot something, I guess he was famous for saying this. Must have had a good PR guy.
My two favorite poems tie for first. One is from "Alice in Wonderland - Through the Looking Glass" called "The Jabberwocky." Challenging myself (since poetry can indeed be boring), I decided to try to memorize "The Jabberwocky," but only got as far as the first two stanzas. Whomp, whomp, whomp....
The other poem is Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken." That's because I like to think outside the box 99.9% of the time.
Very useful, channeling Trump. You've got to think like your prey, as they say. Hope you do it some more, as long as you don't get trapped inside him. Caution is advised.
Who are you kidding, Bill? Trump paid someone to read those boring poems in high school!
There he goes again !
Singing. Stupid songs he’s thinking he can throw enough bullshit on the wall and something is going to stick !
He just shows his insanity one trick pony ! He can’t say very much more then , ummm look they did it I didn’t do it . Dont believe your own eyes believe what I tell you while waving around the invisible accordion and some other mind meld bullshit … take him away already it’s time for jello and diaper change . What is that stink ?
Can you imagine ? I bet the babe’s love it !
Where is his wife ? Kids gone to . Can’t blame them . Fucking disgusting either bullshit out his mouth or ass ! But boy he’s got it all planned out .. yeah . We’ll see best plans of mic’s and men , laugh. Go play a round of golf .
"best plans of mics and men" Love it!
I love Bill Kristol's channeling of Trump channeling a campaign political strategist. It makes getting through this dreary, tense time more bearable. And, even if you do not agree with her, vote for Kamala to stop the Orange Menace!
Reading Trump's Mind is having exactly the right effect--angst induction. Don't stop, Bill.
One of the things that I like about Bill's impressions is that I don't think he falls for the "he is dumb" thing. I think that's a delusion, a comforting one, but very dangerous, and quite possibly why we're still, still, in this mess. He is cunning, a master manipulator, a corrupter of hearts, a seducer, he has half the country under his spell. I'm sorry, but a stupid man cannot do this. A stupid man cannot win the presidency. Cannot. A stupid man cannot destroy one of America's two political parties, from within, inverting all its values in the process, and reinvent it, with nearly all its members also inverted, and utterly now in his thrall. A stupid man cannot attempt to overthrow the government, fail, and yet get away with it. And get away with it. And get away with it. Get away with ALL of it.
There is a not-so-old saying, that dumb psychopaths go to prison; smart psychopaths become doctors, CEOs, conmen, master criminals, dictators, and now the former and quite possibly future president. He's a smart psychopath, He's crazy, not stupid; he's getting demented, sure, but he's still got it. He's neck and neck in the polls! He doesn't care what we think of him. We're not his audience. He doesn't care that he doesn't sound smart, ain't educated. He's not trying to impress us. He's trying to dominate us. Please, everyone, stop underestimating him!
I disagree. He is only a manipulator of the weak. Far from a master, thought he thinks he is. Importantly, is very easy to manipulate, you don't even have to be a master to do it. His ego is very fragile. You can manipulate him by challenging his ego, I hope Harris does this in the debate. He is also very easy to manipulate with flattering his ego. This is what Putin, Xi, Kim and Vance have done.
It might have been him at the beginning, but now it is the club of MAGA rally attenders. They travel for miles to meet up and then leave halfway during his repetitive, boring speeches. They vote for him because they don't want to vote for a "regular politician."
I agree he is very easy to manipulate. Ask Putin, ask those who convinced him to overturn Roe. He thought he would be a hero and now finds what he did is working against him.
Yeah, I think one of the biggest mistakes in modern politics is people *overestimating* him. People call him a master manipulator. He's not, he's a moron who can barely hold a coherent thought in his head. The actual source of Trump's power is that he is *so* stupid and *so* arrogant that he thinks it's okay to do things that society and conventional wisdom decided a long time ago were unacceptable, and by being the first to cross those lines, he ends up finding out that they aren't unacceptable after all. He has done this enough times that it has made him very powerful and very dangerous. No one with any common sense or ability to model risk could ever have gotten as far as Trump has - a smart person would have cashed out years ago, they would have quite reasonably and sensibly thought "okay, there's no way I can get away with it *again,* time to bail". It's one of the reasons I believe that Trump is a unique figure, and that his movement will become dramatically less dangerous once he's gone.
What does that say about society when we have norms that we really want someone to flaunt or violate? Why are the norms there in the first place? Do we just want to protect children from crassness and vulgarity, but adults just want to let it fly? Crudeness and lies----just part of everyday speech? Personally, I can't wait until he joins Roy Cohn in the 9th circle of hell.
Poor Trump. Nobody likes him: https://www.politicususa.com/2024/09/03/federal-judge-rejects-trump-bid-to-delay-his-felony-sentencing.html
It wont happen but I would love a debate question to be how exactly was Kamala "mean to Mike Pence" He just throws this crap out there and no one bats an eyelash. Like NYT they just go on like this is a perfectly normal thing to say. And yes you are absolutely correct, t***p will be nasty and yes Kamala will I hope ignore his race baiting or gender baiting. The whole country needs to see exactly what a piece of filth he is.
Quoting Trump's words to Trump is totally 'unfair'! 'Nasty'. Horrible like nobody has ever seen. (that last bit is true. Nobody has ever seen it, and isn't seeing it now either).
I don't like those pieces where Bill acts like trump 🙄
I look at as resembling the debate prep that Harris is probably now undergoing. This one is kind of scary; there's a ring of truth, since Trump, although he is an idiot, has great political instincts.
continuing with Trump's thoughts:
After slamming her on Afghanistan, I will then expand to the current wars that would never have happened had I been president, I will say:
"If I were President, Russia would have not invaded Ukraine, nor Hamas into Israel.
Because, Putin Likes me, and I Can scare Hamas with an attack, the likes of which the word as never
seen before."
I will then say
“They look at her and they say, ‘We can’t believe we got so lucky.’ They’re going to walk all over her.”
She will be speechless because she is weak and I am strong. The election will be over after that!
FLASH FORWARD TO DEBATE NIGHT:
Trump:
"If I were President, Russia would have not invaded Ukraine, nor Hamas into Israel.
Because, Putin Likes me, and I Can scare Hamas with an attack, the likes of which the word as
never seen before."
“Putin, Xi, Kim, and other world leaders, will look at her and they say, ‘We can’t believe we got so
lucky.’ They’re going to walk all over her.”
Harris:
“This is why he is so dangerous for our national security, because he believes this. Our adversaries
know how to use his weak ego to manipulate him into thinking that he is strong. Putin got Trump
to say that he trusts him over our intelligence agencies. Xi got him to tweet praise upon his
handling of covid, until it hit our shores when Donald then needed someone to blame. Kim, the
leader of North Korea, got Trump to “fall in love” with him, simply by sending flattering letters in
big envelops that Donald could hold up for the cameras. We need a leader who deals from
strength, not from a glaring weakness. We need a leader who can manipulate adversaries, not be
manipulated. In fact, I bet that I can get Donald to make some very childish statements tonight”
Trump:
“I’m not weak, you are. I can’t be manipulated, you can be!”!
Harris:
“See what I just achieved. I got Donald to essentially come back with the childish retort of ‘I know
you are, but what am I?’. Donald can be manipulated through attacks to his ego, like I have just
done. Or through flattery as Putin, Xi and Kim did. JD Vance also used flattery. Just a few years
go he said that Donald was ‘reprehensible’ and an ‘idiot.’ When JD wanted Donald’s support for
the senate, he switched to flattery. He not only got Donald’s support for the senate, he got himself
selected as his running mate. This flip flop was nothing more than cold calculated manipulation.”
Trump has a meltdown on live TV, and physically charges her. The election will be over after that!
"I can’t believe all the media idiocy about how Trump has to be careful in dealing with a black woman and he can’t look too mean and all that crap. Are you kidding? What country do they think we’re in? I hope Kamala believes all that stuff about when we go low they should go high. Or that she shouldn’t answer attacks.
So when Dana asked her about my “she’s not really black” line, what did she say? It’s the same old tired playbook. Next question, please. Are you kidding me? You gotta turn the attack around. Because you know what? Otherwise that old playbook works."
Is that Kristol saying that's what Trump thinks or is that Kristol saying what Kristol thinks?
I've heard lots of commentary saying that Harris' handling of this question was perfect. Does Kristol disagree and if so why. If Kristol disagrees, what would he describe as the right way to "turn that attack around"?
Speaking for myself, I agree with Kamala. The "turned Black" attack is so blazingly stupid, that there is no point in attacking it. An attack would not convince one MAGA voter, and I don't think the attack resonates with anyone else.
Please, I beg you, stop the writing as if you are Trump. It is deeply unpleasant. I come here for political analysis, not to pretend I’m seeing the world through Trump colored glasses. I understand you are trying to make some points but please, do it some other way.
Tough love for the Boss: sorry Mr. Kristol, but the Trump Talks impersonation doesn't work. A good impressionist nails the subject's characteristics whilst providing some insightful or surprising thoughts. Your attempt(s) achieve neither and just seems... lazy.
Donald Trump has only said one thing that’s both significant and true since 2015, and that was in response to his handlers recently urging him to focus on issues, not personal attacks and smears.
To which he reportedly and defiantly said:
“I know what I’m doing.”
Translation: I will continue to level bigoted, false and inflammatory attacks at my Democratic rivals, it will work, and I will win.”
The point is: he knows exactly what he’s doing, and always has.
He’s not demented. He’s not confused. Yes, he rambles. Yes, he says inane things, but there’s usually a point behind it. Yes, he can be self-defeating. But that’s not his intent.
His intent is always to further enrich, empower and promote himself, usually at the expense of his many perceived enemies.
But he does know what he’s doing, in the sense of:
He knows when he’s lying, which is the vast majority of the time.
He knows when his words and actions endanger and injure, and sometimes kill others, and he does not care one whit about that.
He knows what he’s doing and he knows what he wants: protection from the law, and absolute power, such as Putin, Orban and Kim Jung Un wield.
He should of course not be underestimated. He is one of the most persuasive and consequential demagogues in history, and he reached the pinnacle of power this way once before.
I could not disagree more. Trump absolutely doesn't know what he's doing. There is not some grand strategy behind what he does. He could be extremely popular and powerful. Yet, he has continually made dumb political choices that limit his power and cause him and his party to lose elections. Trump is an extremely weak general election political candidate because he doesn't know what he's doing. We as a country are so fortunate because Trump is so incredibly dumb. If he were as smart as Hitler, or even Mussolini, we'd be totally screwed.
No, Trump is not some secret genius employing a master strategy on all the topics you suggest. Trump isn't playing four-dimensional political chess. He's playing checkers...and badly at that..
Hitler wasn't very smart either.
I never said he was a genius, and I noted he is self-defeating.
And I don’t think he has a grand strategy, like the best campaign managers and candidates have.
But he has the electoral college on his side, and a whole lot of demagogued militia types and run of the mill knee-jerk conservatives.
Like Ripley says to the gung-ho marines in Aliens, before they actually face the xenomorphs:
“I hope you’re right. I really do.
But just one of those things wiped out my entire crew in less than 24 hours.”
Just saying: let’s not underestimate Trump, who’s been as destructive as any alien invasion could have been.