Cautiously (grudgingly?) optimistic about these developments, but there's still a long way to go...
Agreed on Trump - he's just pathetic: a fat, angry old man relying on the same old tired tricks everyone has seen over and over for the last 10 years...my God...10 YEARS!
Lastly, on the topic of freedom, I have taken to saying that the republicans' idea of freedom is 'allowing' other people the freedom to do what republicans tell them to do!
I loved Walz's line the other day about "mind your own damn business"...I think that's the perfect response to so many of the GOP's efforts at controlling other people's lives - and it'd make a good t-shirt, and great rally chant: "M...Y...ODB! M...Y...ODB!!"
Please check into the tip that Trump’s plane was diverted to Billings MT due to a history of unpaid bills for police and air service in Bozeman - not due to a mechanical problem as others are reporting. Other cities have also experienced unpaid bills by Trump organizations, including ElPaso Tx. Thank you.
Hmmm. He certainly doesn’t pay his bills, but I don’t think an airport can deny landings, especially a former president, due to unpaid bills. I can see them seizing the plane once it’s on the ground, but that seems extreme.
Helpfully, the FEC doesn’t require campaigns to pay local bills for extra police, associated costs.
Kamala should blindside this clown in the debate with some economic stats and questions on Trump's numbers that he has described at the convention (and many times before) as "the greatest economy in the history of the world." He must have missed the 1980s and 1990s (busy "dating" and working with financial restructuring lawyers) since both Reagan's and especially Clinton's economic numbers (objective facts and stats, not opinions) dwarf Trump's numbers. GDP growth (real or nominal), fixed investment, bull markets in equities etc. Clinton even had a balanced budget. Biden's running performance is better overall and he crushes Trump on job growth per year even leaving out COVID. Actually Obama's second term had better job growth than Trump's average over 3 years. Harris has to his this fat hologram with some substance and that is just a little prep. He will be very angry and lose his train (short caboose) of limited thought.
Here is another highly significant item in this morning's news.
I have long believed inflation is "low hanging fruit" for Harris to challenge Trump's lead on handling the economy. A few days ago, conservative economist Peter Morici was out with a piece predicting "economic pain, higher interest rates, and higher inflation if Trump is elected. Tariffs were one of his criticisms.
This morning, I found a piece in the South Bend Tribune reminding us that the conservative's most famous economist -- Milton Friedman -- said "tariffs are bad for us." The article also states some of the negative results from the tariffs Trump imposed during his term.
This is a must read for any and all political junkies out there. Hopefully, the Harris campaign will get around to tackling not Trump's past performance, but the impact of what he promises to do in the future. I don't see how he can defend tariffs in light of what appears to be universal condemnation from all sides. Here is the piece:
The economists like Friedman et al are whirling in their graves over some of the nonsense Trump spouts. The Friedman tier of big econ thinkers and many, many other types of their level (Nobel types) had their views that sometimes clashed, but Trump cannot even get the facts right. The theories are beyond him. The facts don't even land (like who pays the tariffs) Navarro was a C Team economist who took the short bus to econ class. Loud and aggressive to overcompensate. Ducked questions on tariffs on CNBC. 2018 was a market nightmare (stocks and bonds) because of Trump, and the Fed bailed him out with 3 rate cuts in the second half of 2019. The Fed gave very specific reasons in 2019: "weak investment and weak exports." Caused by trade battle impact. Trump wants a replay in 2025 only much worse. His learning curve is like Mount Everest with no climbing gear. "Greatest economy in history"???
New York Times/Sienna poll released this morning has Harris up by 4 in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, outside the margin of error. Can't wait to see Trump blow up over this one.
Weekends are slow on The Bulwark, a good opportunity to read up on comments. Most of which got my tired old brain scrambling to connect the dots to why i felt i had seen this story plot before.
For some of the younger folks, the Blues Brothers might be before their time, for us oldsters, it was a vintage movie we've watched time and time again. Classic television, great cast and unbelievable musical score.
My apologies to those creating it for bringing it down with this connection. The scene in the Western bar where the boys and the band set up is the perfect trump analogy. They play a rock song and the crowd wants to kill them. They immediately read the room and for the next 3 hours play the song and the crowd goes wild.
Now picture them doing that for 8 long freaking years. Damn, even the biggest fan boys would grow weary. Which is exactly why trump is running out of steam. "Rawhide; Indeed."
Jake and Elwood! My all-time favorite movie and yes, phenomenal music!
This is one of my favorite scenes…Someone good at editing should sub in Kamala and key lines from her stump speech, and then dub in the word “democracy” for “the band” when Jake Sees The Light!
Thanks for the post and I actually watched the link of the BB's western bar scene which made me smile and laugh. Good timing as this morning has been a bit of a downer for me when watching many of my veteran friends doing the deja vu John Kerry and stolen valor thing with Walz.
Trump can denigrate McCain for getting captured as a POW and get away with it, but a 24 year veteran gets called out on nits. It really makes me sick....so I needed that video to remind me that I'm not the one who's crazy....
I enjoyed reading Andrew Egger's summary. However I object to the assertion "Harris’s media-shy strategy". Harris/Walz have been barnstorming the battleground states with inspiring and informative speeches. While Trump has been hiding in his Mar-a-Lago bedroom. After embarrassing themselves at the Trump "presser" the last thing the press corps should be doing is complaining about Kamala not
submitting to one. First, prove that you are journalists like the Association of Black Journalists. Soft balling Trump and letting him lie is not journalism. I'd prefer to just hear Harris and Walz themselves. Until the press can show that they are capable of honest and unbiased coverage.
Four years ago the "Republican party" (of Trump) didn't even bother to have a platform. Didn't see the news media getting bent out of shape about that.
Excellent reminder to keep our feet on the ground, Bill. I'm with you on respecting the Fates. Yet, to offer a small assist in perhaps allaying your very cogent concerns, please have a listen to Joe Trippi's latest pod. I know you like his takes as I've heard you both chew the proverbial fat on your most esteemed and revered 'Conversations' pod. Time to get him back on for a chat and get his POV on where we are.
"Hey, you never know. Maybe Harris can crush this guy."
Honestly, this is the direction this is all heading. Things can change, but I think that's our current trajectory. Lots of 2008 vibes out there on one side, and on the other side, there is a candidate who ranges from unappealing to very unappealing to the majority of the electorate. Harris is getting dinged by pundits for not sitting down with the press or not putting forth much substance, but I think the country is yearning for someone they can feel good about, and that has nothing to do with policy positions or sit downs with Meet the Press. We were staring at an election that 70% of the electorate did not want because of both of the candidates; now one of those candidates is gone, and his replacement is reaping the benefits. And she's played all of this masterfully.
The electorate isn't much interested in spinach. Harris won't be penalized if she's loath to shove it down people's throats. People want inspiration. That's Harris. Trump is division, and everyone who's not a GOP primary voter is tired of it.
You're right on. I'm a super agger at 87, who was a young guy during the campaign of 1960. The enthusiasm, energy and excitement of Harris/Walz reminds me of the possible 'new day' that was brought by the candidacy of John Kennedy that something new was on the horizon after the horror of WWII. As much as we all respected President Eisenhower, to us young people he was the nation's grandfather, and we were ready for a change. I see the same thing today with the possibility of setting aside the nastiness of Donald Trump, and electing our first female president, Kamala Harris, which is long overdue. The main thing is that all Americans must vote in November to save our democracy.
The thing Harris is doing right is having large crowds in swing states. Heck, I do not care if she busses them in like Trump. If her crowd is large, Trump’s ego will not allow comparison, shutting him out in those states.
Live report from Bozeman! Well I went down to the Trump rally venue which is the Montana State Brick Breeden Fieldhouse that has a capacity of approximately 12,000 maybe more if they allow seating on the floor. I doubt the Rolling Stones sell as much merch! Of course, I wonder how DJT feels about missing out on all that revenue because I'm pretty sure none of the sales outside the arena pass through anything Trump controls. I did ask one lady if she'd be having a 3 for 1 sale later and she flatly said no and then I said what about November 8th-- to her credit she did crack a smile but said nothing more. I did not see Jordan Klepper but I did see some folks packing news cameras-- probably just local news network stuff.
I basically just rode my bike around and soaked in the assmosphere (spelling intended). Lots of folks that you would question whether their family tree forked but a huge number of regular looking folks apart from all the MAGA apparel. I didn't see any counter protesters near the entrance so it was all MAGA all the time. I wonder how many will stay for the entire event? I will be downtown later with my family and I'm looking forward to seeing if there's any spillover or if they will stay on campus. I took some photos and posted on Facebook that it was a great day for a Trump Rally-- lots of hot air and blowing smoke! (which is true today)
Billy, resorting to Yiddish? Here’s some for you:
שװײַג
His rallies have been smaller and people are leaving before he's done speaking. It's like even his fans are getting as bored as the rest of us.
Doesn’t mean they won't vote for him but maybe they won't bother to vote at all.
"...Donald Trump is a machine that runs on attention..."
It explains why he went to Bozeman.
He went to Montana because he can get there a big crowd of enthusiastic supporters.
It's like putting up a show and having the extended family in the audience.
Cautiously (grudgingly?) optimistic about these developments, but there's still a long way to go...
Agreed on Trump - he's just pathetic: a fat, angry old man relying on the same old tired tricks everyone has seen over and over for the last 10 years...my God...10 YEARS!
Lastly, on the topic of freedom, I have taken to saying that the republicans' idea of freedom is 'allowing' other people the freedom to do what republicans tell them to do!
I loved Walz's line the other day about "mind your own damn business"...I think that's the perfect response to so many of the GOP's efforts at controlling other people's lives - and it'd make a good t-shirt, and great rally chant: "M...Y...ODB! M...Y...ODB!!"
Please check into the tip that Trump’s plane was diverted to Billings MT due to a history of unpaid bills for police and air service in Bozeman - not due to a mechanical problem as others are reporting. Other cities have also experienced unpaid bills by Trump organizations, including ElPaso Tx. Thank you.
Have you read any more about this? First I’ve heard of it.
Hmmm. He certainly doesn’t pay his bills, but I don’t think an airport can deny landings, especially a former president, due to unpaid bills. I can see them seizing the plane once it’s on the ground, but that seems extreme.
Helpfully, the FEC doesn’t require campaigns to pay local bills for extra police, associated costs.
Source
https://www.nbcmontana.com/news/local/trumps-bozeman-rally-highlights-unpaid-costs-from-past-montana-visits
Sure they can. They are a business!
Kamala should blindside this clown in the debate with some economic stats and questions on Trump's numbers that he has described at the convention (and many times before) as "the greatest economy in the history of the world." He must have missed the 1980s and 1990s (busy "dating" and working with financial restructuring lawyers) since both Reagan's and especially Clinton's economic numbers (objective facts and stats, not opinions) dwarf Trump's numbers. GDP growth (real or nominal), fixed investment, bull markets in equities etc. Clinton even had a balanced budget. Biden's running performance is better overall and he crushes Trump on job growth per year even leaving out COVID. Actually Obama's second term had better job growth than Trump's average over 3 years. Harris has to his this fat hologram with some substance and that is just a little prep. He will be very angry and lose his train (short caboose) of limited thought.
Here is another highly significant item in this morning's news.
I have long believed inflation is "low hanging fruit" for Harris to challenge Trump's lead on handling the economy. A few days ago, conservative economist Peter Morici was out with a piece predicting "economic pain, higher interest rates, and higher inflation if Trump is elected. Tariffs were one of his criticisms.
This morning, I found a piece in the South Bend Tribune reminding us that the conservative's most famous economist -- Milton Friedman -- said "tariffs are bad for us." The article also states some of the negative results from the tariffs Trump imposed during his term.
This is a must read for any and all political junkies out there. Hopefully, the Harris campaign will get around to tackling not Trump's past performance, but the impact of what he promises to do in the future. I don't see how he can defend tariffs in light of what appears to be universal condemnation from all sides. Here is the piece:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/in-1962-economist-milton-friedman-wrote-our-tariffs-hurt-us-as-well-as-other-countries/ar-AA1oyLfZ?ocid=msedgntp&pc=W022&cvid=0e8180be914a4cd1a0362664b460abff&ei=22
The economists like Friedman et al are whirling in their graves over some of the nonsense Trump spouts. The Friedman tier of big econ thinkers and many, many other types of their level (Nobel types) had their views that sometimes clashed, but Trump cannot even get the facts right. The theories are beyond him. The facts don't even land (like who pays the tariffs) Navarro was a C Team economist who took the short bus to econ class. Loud and aggressive to overcompensate. Ducked questions on tariffs on CNBC. 2018 was a market nightmare (stocks and bonds) because of Trump, and the Fed bailed him out with 3 rate cuts in the second half of 2019. The Fed gave very specific reasons in 2019: "weak investment and weak exports." Caused by trade battle impact. Trump wants a replay in 2025 only much worse. His learning curve is like Mount Everest with no climbing gear. "Greatest economy in history"???
https://www.macro4micro.com/p/the-debate-the-china-deficits-and?utm_source=publication-search
New York Times/Sienna poll released this morning has Harris up by 4 in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, outside the margin of error. Can't wait to see Trump blow up over this one.
Weekends are slow on The Bulwark, a good opportunity to read up on comments. Most of which got my tired old brain scrambling to connect the dots to why i felt i had seen this story plot before.
For some of the younger folks, the Blues Brothers might be before their time, for us oldsters, it was a vintage movie we've watched time and time again. Classic television, great cast and unbelievable musical score.
My apologies to those creating it for bringing it down with this connection. The scene in the Western bar where the boys and the band set up is the perfect trump analogy. They play a rock song and the crowd wants to kill them. They immediately read the room and for the next 3 hours play the song and the crowd goes wild.
Now picture them doing that for 8 long freaking years. Damn, even the biggest fan boys would grow weary. Which is exactly why trump is running out of steam. "Rawhide; Indeed."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Um4zdK5Ow
Enjoy.
Jake and Elwood! My all-time favorite movie and yes, phenomenal music!
This is one of my favorite scenes…Someone good at editing should sub in Kamala and key lines from her stump speech, and then dub in the word “democracy” for “the band” when Jake Sees The Light!
https://youtu.be/J0TEagjwEbQ?si=Y0SX1OPXMMXgid4w
Thanks for the post and I actually watched the link of the BB's western bar scene which made me smile and laugh. Good timing as this morning has been a bit of a downer for me when watching many of my veteran friends doing the deja vu John Kerry and stolen valor thing with Walz.
Trump can denigrate McCain for getting captured as a POW and get away with it, but a 24 year veteran gets called out on nits. It really makes me sick....so I needed that video to remind me that I'm not the one who's crazy....
Couldn't agree more with the crap about his service record. Some one posted a link yesterday to Adam Kinziger's response on his substack page, it was brilliant. Here's the link in case you missed it: https://adamkinzinger.substack.com/p/the-swiftboating-of-walz-is-sick
I enjoyed reading Andrew Egger's summary. However I object to the assertion "Harris’s media-shy strategy". Harris/Walz have been barnstorming the battleground states with inspiring and informative speeches. While Trump has been hiding in his Mar-a-Lago bedroom. After embarrassing themselves at the Trump "presser" the last thing the press corps should be doing is complaining about Kamala not
submitting to one. First, prove that you are journalists like the Association of Black Journalists. Soft balling Trump and letting him lie is not journalism. I'd prefer to just hear Harris and Walz themselves. Until the press can show that they are capable of honest and unbiased coverage.
Honestly....given what happened at the last one....the Harris campaign should be scheduling more Trump news conferences.
"a man who can no more run a disciplined press conference than he could free solo the Empire State Building."
An elegant, easy to visualize turn of phrase. Well done, Andrew.
Four years ago the "Republican party" (of Trump) didn't even bother to have a platform. Didn't see the news media getting bent out of shape about that.
That's such a good point. Somehow we're still acting like the standards haven't changed even though Trump/GOP just ignore them.
Excellent reminder to keep our feet on the ground, Bill. I'm with you on respecting the Fates. Yet, to offer a small assist in perhaps allaying your very cogent concerns, please have a listen to Joe Trippi's latest pod. I know you like his takes as I've heard you both chew the proverbial fat on your most esteemed and revered 'Conversations' pod. Time to get him back on for a chat and get his POV on where we are.
"Man plans and God laughs" - fantastic.
"Hey, you never know. Maybe Harris can crush this guy."
Honestly, this is the direction this is all heading. Things can change, but I think that's our current trajectory. Lots of 2008 vibes out there on one side, and on the other side, there is a candidate who ranges from unappealing to very unappealing to the majority of the electorate. Harris is getting dinged by pundits for not sitting down with the press or not putting forth much substance, but I think the country is yearning for someone they can feel good about, and that has nothing to do with policy positions or sit downs with Meet the Press. We were staring at an election that 70% of the electorate did not want because of both of the candidates; now one of those candidates is gone, and his replacement is reaping the benefits. And she's played all of this masterfully.
The electorate isn't much interested in spinach. Harris won't be penalized if she's loath to shove it down people's throats. People want inspiration. That's Harris. Trump is division, and everyone who's not a GOP primary voter is tired of it.
You're right on. I'm a super agger at 87, who was a young guy during the campaign of 1960. The enthusiasm, energy and excitement of Harris/Walz reminds me of the possible 'new day' that was brought by the candidacy of John Kennedy that something new was on the horizon after the horror of WWII. As much as we all respected President Eisenhower, to us young people he was the nation's grandfather, and we were ready for a change. I see the same thing today with the possibility of setting aside the nastiness of Donald Trump, and electing our first female president, Kamala Harris, which is long overdue. The main thing is that all Americans must vote in November to save our democracy.
The thing Harris is doing right is having large crowds in swing states. Heck, I do not care if she busses them in like Trump. If her crowd is large, Trump’s ego will not allow comparison, shutting him out in those states.
Live report from Bozeman! Well I went down to the Trump rally venue which is the Montana State Brick Breeden Fieldhouse that has a capacity of approximately 12,000 maybe more if they allow seating on the floor. I doubt the Rolling Stones sell as much merch! Of course, I wonder how DJT feels about missing out on all that revenue because I'm pretty sure none of the sales outside the arena pass through anything Trump controls. I did ask one lady if she'd be having a 3 for 1 sale later and she flatly said no and then I said what about November 8th-- to her credit she did crack a smile but said nothing more. I did not see Jordan Klepper but I did see some folks packing news cameras-- probably just local news network stuff.
I basically just rode my bike around and soaked in the assmosphere (spelling intended). Lots of folks that you would question whether their family tree forked but a huge number of regular looking folks apart from all the MAGA apparel. I didn't see any counter protesters near the entrance so it was all MAGA all the time. I wonder how many will stay for the entire event? I will be downtown later with my family and I'm looking forward to seeing if there's any spillover or if they will stay on campus. I took some photos and posted on Facebook that it was a great day for a Trump Rally-- lots of hot air and blowing smoke! (which is true today)
Apparently they are limiting entry to the first 7,500. Did anyone else catch the Dems rally in Phoenix? Wow- DJT is going to have a meltdown.
Thank you for the reconnaissance