America’s Hitler/JD 2024
Bronzer/Eyeliner 2024: MakeUp America Great Again
Consider this an open thread.
Links
Aaron Blake looks at how JD underperformed fellow Republicans in Ohio.
Robert Kuttner on JD’s false compassion.
A video with some of JD’s criticism from 2016.
This goes to a trusted Google page with tons of links on JD.
Bulwark on Vance’s embrace of Russian disinformation.
Nolan Finley is a conservative Detroit News commentator originally from Kentucky; he demands an apology from Vance for his slurs against Appalachia.
OK.
That’s a lede I did not know I needed.
I’m laughing like Christine Baranski and I need nothing more today.
Maybe one of her gummies…and this lamp…and this paddle game…*
*Steve Martin
The Jerk
I just got a fundraising text from Sherrod Brown re:Vance.
I donated with a “thx for not underbussing Biden/Harris”.
I can hear Peter Thiel laughing manically about the ROI of his legislative portfolio.
Vote like you mean it.
I speculated on the last thread that this is a play by Convict-1 for Thiel’s money, and perhaps that is Peter’s price.
Vance has the same lack of principles as a whole bunch of GOP senators and congresscritters. Given Convict-1’s well known aversion to facial hair, I guess that was set aside for the checkbook.
Let us not forget that Don Jr. has a beard, as do a good chunk of MAGA supporters.
The facial hair is almost like a uniform for these guys at this point.
ExRacerX – true, Don Jr. has facial hair, but it’s not clear how attached Felon Trump is to Don Jr.
on its face, it looks like the convicted Felon chose the most radioactive stooge possible.
all Biden needs to do is roll all the anti-orange turd comments made by mister destined for the noose “i smell a fart” vance
At least to me it’s not that hard to understand…Vance will be a reliable attack dog saying even more outrageous things and taking heat and spotlight away from TFG…will it work? I certainly can see pitfalls but it still requires the Dems to engage and join the fray…Biden needs an attack dog right now.
Honestly, if Vance ends up on TV more than Trump does, Trump is GOING to lash out at him. Trump doesn’t want his VP upstaging him.
Yep. Trump won’t let himself be upstaged by Vance…bigly.
You are assuming that voters who are still somehow undecided in this race will have the critical thinking to see through the inevitable “I’ve been able to learn more about Trump as a candidate and a person as well as how much the Democrats persecute him” pivot that is surely incoming from Vance if it hasn’t hit already. That is a strong assumption. Honestly, by this point, I’m not sure there IS messaging that would be a sure thing to convince these undecided unicorns.
They aren’t unicorns: https://www.newsweek.com/whos-still-undecided-about-2024-profile-americas-persuadables-opinion-1916786
And yes, many can be persuaded and encouraged to vote rather than sit it out. We can choose to take actions that help to persuade them and get them registered and voting.
I am familiar with Brady’s work, and I wholeheartedly support voter mobilization efforts, particularly among younger voters and anyone who voted for the first time in 2020 because of mail-in ballot expansion. I can also say in the European context where I studied voter behavior “undecided” was not uncommonly a proxy for “I don’t feel comfortable sharing but don’t want to be a ‘bad participant’ “. It’s also of note that Brady included “would consider voting for another person”, which can also be a proxy for either lack of comfort disclosing or overreliance on the trope of false balance. I strongly suspect the true number of unaware and undecided voters is much lower, and depending on their distribution across states, not an electorally significant bloc.
With that said, I do genuinely believe Project 2025 changes things. That such a clearly described extreme platform is likely to be adopted by a president who previously was not exactly known for strong stances (see the vacant 2020 GOP party platform) complicates the matter. And I definitely support informing a bunch of people who have already written Trump off as a jerk but the lesser of two evils just how much they potentially have to lose when his minions enact policies he literally may not even be able to understand.
I believe if the Democrats put up a new candidate they would excite not only their own base, but independents and some republicans thinking of sitting it out.
Vance in 2016:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160704104446/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/07/opioid-of-the-masses/489911/
Sorry, I’d meant to post that as a stand-alone comment, not as a reply.
A smart campaign might forget about most global messaging (save abortion) and focus solely on the small handful of voters in a small handful of states. I assume the lure of JD had everything to do with a subset of voters in Western PA and southern Michigan because none of the other contenders brought anything at all from a voter standpoint, and only one or two brought money. I’d expect more weird announcements like the Biden rent control as I’m guessing some research showed that a small subset of voters in North Carolina (or wherever) found it meaningful. The Trumpy ones will be doozy’s
So Trump picks the even bigger, dumber phony than he is. Does he want to seem authentic by comparison? One advantage of Vance is that Trump holds so much material that is publicly available to shame his VP hopeful into perpetual obedience; we all know what Vance said about Trump before his Come To Jesus conversion, and if we don’t we’ll surely hear it in ads from the Biden campaign.
So much for “unity.” Vance is not about unity. Like Trump, he is about himself. I suppose we’ll see if all that Thiel money is worth this devil’s bargain.
J.D. Vance is infinitely smarter than Trump. We’ve yet to see whether he’s smart in a Frank Underwood way, or a Kris Kobach way. Given his recent nomination as VP, I’d say the former.
Naturally, he’s been in government so short a time he knows SFA about governance or the USG. But that’s not his mission. He’s there to give us a distillation of Koch, Mercer, Crow, and Musk and pour it into a decanter in the Oval Office.
Here’s something that might be useful. It was reposted by Dan Gillmor:
https://hachyderm.io/@molly0xfff/112775039324717683
Jul 12, 2024, 14:55
Next paragraph:
Responding to earlofhuntingdon above:
I assume you mean book-smart, earl. Because nothing about Vance suggests he possesses Trump’s instincts or feral cunning, and I seriously doubt DJT would have picked him if he truly considered Vance a threat.
If anyone were ever a “DEI” beneficiary, Vance is it. He parlayed his upbringing and its purported deprivations into not just admission to the Ivy League but also a book that flattered a certain political moment in just the right way. I respect his military service, but it doesn’t make him a genius, just another ambitious pol determined to cover all his bases for a future bio.
Vance is Trump without the brio. And Trump without the brio is just…mediocrity in menacingly soulless form.
A little like DeSantis in that regard. People reveal who they really are over time. I suspect, over time, those two will reveal themselves… at least politically, to have a lot in common.
Koch, Mercer, Crow, and Musk.
The 4 horsemen of the coming apocalypse.
I don’t think Vance will care about the “information” Trump may have on him. I suspect so do a lot of other people. His comments regarding Trump, well Haley had some things to say about Trump and then there she was, she was supporting him.
I’m sure all of them expect to get something out of this and Vance, he I am sure is looking to be Pres. of the U.S.A.
Vance and Trump deserve each other, the american public, not so much. Vance has knowingly stepped into a position knowing what Trump is all about and what he can and will do. Vance just has to keep one step ahead of him. Who knows the two may spend so much time trying to out do each other, they won’t pay much attention to the country, well beyond it being turned over to the corporate world and removing more rights of American citizens, destroying workers’ rights and the enviornment.
I’ve watched a couple of minutes of the convention, while the press was interviewing attendees. Some of them remind me of people at a religious revival meeting and some, I do wonder if hey ever read a book on the Constituion.
I suspect he chose Vance because he will not stop to think about the ramifications of what he is doing. He is also smarter than Trumps’ two eldest sons. One shot of no. 1 son’s face, I’m not so sure he is happy with Vance, just a tad off.
Well its not going to be boring.
Once Vance saw his savior’s orange halo up close he dropped to his knees and begged forgiveness for telling the truth.
MAGA
My Acolytes Grovel Always
…with tears in his eyes!
A chicken in every pot, a $5 billion in every Rot(h).
https://www.propublica.org/article/lord-of-the-roths-how-tech-mogul-peter-thiel-turned-a-retirement-account-for-the-middle-class-into-a-5-billion-dollar-tax-free-piggy-bank
It’s a workers’ party now.
J.D. Vance is a creature of private equity. He shares its ruthless, hard right, psychopathology. He will use it without restraint to further an agenda farther to the right than Donald Trump or the Heritage Foundation. He is the perfect billionaire’s courtier. Meanwhile, he will encourage his boss to double down on those McBurgers and fries, as he dreams about what lies ahead. A House of Cards.
As an aside, despite the themes of Vance’s oddly best-selling book, he grew up in Middletown, OH, frequently cited as one of the nicest home towns in Ohio. Like tens of thousands of others, he went to the Ann Arbor of Ohio and then to Yale Law School. If he’s a hillbilly, Yale is a community college.
And Donald Trump is a populist who sticks up for the working stiffs.
The Guardian’s UK edition has a headline on its website today about Vance having said the UK could be the first Islamist country with nuclear weapons which is beyond stupid. So much for having a Harvard degree.
BBC Radio 4 (widely listened to) just reported the same thing.
I see problems in the Special Relationship. Last time, he had BoJo to protect him.
I can’t concur on Middletown being one of the nicest towns in Ohio – my wife is from the Dayton area (Germantown), and we are there frequently. Middletown seems sad – a local example of a town in decline, after the steel mill cut back. Much more a meth vibe than a hopeful future, after ruthless capitalists cut back and sent local factories offshore.
My wife’s family came from KY as part of the migration to the SW Ohio region, so we read Vance’s book with interest. Didn’t find it terribly insightful. My wife’s family were strong on unions, it’s why they did so well into retirement. But that life has gone from the area now. Vance’s urging for poor, lazy people to pull themselves up by the bootstraps like he did is the “blame the victim” mentality that gets the people crushing unions, closing factories, and sending work to cheap labor off the hook. Not a path to prosperity; a path to modern Middletown instead.
Vance seems unpopular with the MAGA crowd; I suspect Vance was chosen partly to get access to Thiel’s money. Not sure if it will start dawning on the MAGAs that they are being used to forward the billionaire agenda. Vance fits right in that vein.
The Ohio State as “the Ann Arbor of Ohio”? those are fighting words to some (but I’m born in MI, so ok by me…)
Vance previously compared Donald Trump to Hitler (his exact words). The “Hitler” label ought to be used over and over by the Biden campaign and other Democrats, as they highlight the fact that even Trump’s own running mate thinks he’s a sociopath.
Trump’s choice of JD Vance doesn’t help Trump in any way shape or form, and selecting Vance gives the Dems and ol’ Joe so much material to work with.
Trump’s incompetence knows no bounds, and he probably thinks that selection Vance was a “very smart move.” This self-inflicted political sabotage is par for the course for a loser like Trump.
Since JD Vance called Trump, “America’s Hitler”, I guess that makes Vance, “Himmler”.
More like Goering, before Goering’s life went south due to his morphine addiction (a result of the serious injuries he suffered during the Beer Hall Putsch.) Himmler was a useful idiot, in the non-Communist sense of the phrase, Goebbels was a very useful genius in a narrow field. Goering actually did stuff as a pilot in WWI, shooting down 22 Allied planes and winning the Blue Max, and was a real asset in the early days of the Nazi party. He had talent, skills, and brains, but, fortunately for the rest of the world, it all slipped away from him over the years.
The Vance quote is:
> “I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical asshole like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler.”
So he didn’t quite call Trump “Hitler”. The difference is significant.
Although the guy who thinks another Nixon might be OK or good, still gets no votes from me.
But to put political strategy in a courtroom drama mindset more fitting for this forum: “Your Honor, the defense opened the door when they referred to their own client as Hitler”
Donald Trump: “…he’s America’s Hitler.” – JD Vance.
This is a fair method of quoting someone.
You and I have very different definitions of “fair”, then.
I would call that purposely deceptive, and I would not trust anything else the speaker said.
Maybe “thought”, rather than “thinks”. Vance has been a vocal apostle for a while now. Goes to show JD is open to new idea. :)
There was a comedian on Johnny Carson decades ago, only saw him once. Very funny. He explained why he and his new bride were so happy. It was because he had learned how to compromise. He explained: “For example, before we got married I wanted to have a bachelor’s party. My fiance, she didn’t want me to have a bachelor’s party. So we compromised, and I didn’t have a bachelor’s party.”
I suspect JD and Donald… compromised. I guess one is the compromiser, the other the compromisee. :)
On Sunday Morning political roundups the day before SCOTUS burped up the immunity ruling, Vance made the rounds talking almost word for word what SCOTUS said the following day. I had distinct feeling Vance (and who knows who else) received a preview. These people are scary, in same way Gestapo was scary.
Absolutely lovely.
hmmm…thanks for mentioning this.
I wonder if we could find some possible linkages…clerks or spouses..?
I’m assuming you know, but for those who don’t, Vance’s wife clerked for Kavanaugh (pre-SCOTUS) and Roberts.
No, I didn’t know that. Thx.
I was real active here for approx. last 7 months of ’23. Close to end of December, Marcy was shining bright light on fissures in Hunter’s “case”, demonstrating convincingly (at least to me) Hunter’s devices had been tampered with.
That, along with a lot of other stuff (not least Trump’s increasingly revealing of fealty to Putin/Orbon) I was beginning to think what until that point I would not allow myself: that being MAGA/Federalists and a lot of dark money players (whoever they are) are coordinating their efforts in increasingly bold maneuvers.
I got flamed pretty good here, don’t think I mentioned it here.
Just been back in US about 5 weeks, been working in SE Asia prior. Been following this stuff from afar, but not nearly as thoroughly as last year. This episode, SCOTUS immunity (and Chevron) and plenty of other stuff has me believing what I mention above at this point as a given. Especially with 2025 and stuff they’ve been saying lately.
I’m well aware this sounds like black helicopter stuff, but I see a lot of other people and some fairly mainstream media people saying the same thing now. So I think what I said about Vance getting a preview is/was valid AND likely influenced in my thinking by this “black helicopter” stuff, I’ve rarely bought into that kind of thing in my life and arrived at this place now very, very deliberately in step by step observations of Marcy’s work the last year or so, but a bunch of other things I’ve watched carefully as well.
So, I just wanted to explain my mindset w/notion in mind that quite a few other folks are arriving at a approximately similar conclusion.
Well, I did NOT know that, but it certainly isn’t surprising. Thanks.
Usha Chilukuri Vance, is also Southeast Asian, and resigned today, from her very prominent San Francisco and Wash DC law firm, at Munger, Tolles & Olson, ranked No. 1 on The American Lawyer’s A-List for the ninth time. They are litigators.
Rolling Stone has recordings of Roger Stone talking about his “direct access to some of the judges in the Trump cases”…
Would it surprise anybody if it turns out that Judge Cannon was in direct contact with Roger the Ratfucker on a consistent basis?
Thanks. That must be this:
‘Lawyers, Judges, Technology’: Roger Stone Touts Plan for Trump Win in Secret Recording Liberal documentary filmmaker Lauren Windsor’s team spoke to the “dirty trickster” of right-wing politics at an event at Mar-a-Lago https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/roger-stone-plan-trump-win-lawyers-judges-technology-1235041650/ Nikki McCann Ramirez June18, 2024
From STONE’s speech [in the article]:
Perhaps this vp pick will do at least as much for Trump as picking Sarah Palin did for McCain.
One can only hope.
‘TAINT what you do, the way that you do it!
its NAZI wut you do the way that u do it!’
itsa the all new Republican shitfucking new campaign tune!
Ella sings it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8fCXNTCWig
the swing kids piss on nazis while singing it out! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_47juPGglyM&pp=ygUbc3dpbmcga2lkcyBwaXNzIHNjZW5lIG1vdmll
and for the other Ella not-fans, Funboy 3 version from 81(like me): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd5R80LkEjA Swing Kids is a fab film!
shout out to Sy Oliver, Trummy Young, Ella and all the other jazz and swing kids who were shim shamming and kicking the fascist pricks since before Joe Biden was born!
After the shooting, Vance blamed the Biden and the Dems for their violent rhetoric that amped up the shooter.
Does that mean that Vance blames Trump rhetoric for January 6th?
Indeed.
“More fundamentally, though, it is absurd for an ardent supporter of Donald Trump to feign a principled opposition to incendiary rhetoric.
The former president has likened his political enemies to “vermin,” accused Joe Biden of trying to “overthrow the United States” by orchestrating mass immigration, and said that if the Democrat wins, “our country doesn’t stand a chance.”
Eric Levitz
“Yes, it’s still fair to call Trump a threat to democracy
The attempt on his life shouldn’t cow his critics.”
Vox
7/14/2024
https://apple.news/AGO4NkLE6RYWA_MHMLdpF0w
I confess I have never seen this Vance person in a video. Just the captions warn me that he is not worthy of my attention. I don’t really know who he is. I was not aware that he was in Congress until today. I just thought he might be some kind of radio-tv Rush Limbaugh kind of radical bloviator. Maybe, y’all shouldn’t give him so much oxygen. He is visually unattractive, and if reports of his rhetoric are true, vile in what comes from his mouth. Trump will not be elected and this would-be Nazi enabler won’t get anywhere near the White House.
We’ve been here before with the George Wallace-types. He didn’t win, either. Enough water has run under the Trump bridge that folks won’t be fooled again, especially, with a nutcase like this. Give them enough rope and they will hang themselves.
He wrote Hillbilly Elegy, as bestseller as I recall.
A book about Hillbillies would not be in my radar sights. I’m attracted to more elevated topics, such as the History of the US Constitution by such scholars as Professor Akil Reed Amar, from Yale University. (I wonder, did Vance take any of his courses when he was a student there?)
It was purportedly about his childhood. A lot of cultural anthropologists, political scientists and sociologists read it, among others, looking for insights, I guess, about the trump appeal.
The NYT’s David Brooks wrote several best sellers, too. Not much evidence that his arguments were based on fact. His many interviews with diners in Pennsylvania were, for example, apparently largely invented. Brooks would call it poetic license. It’s a technique often used to launder adult politics, and call them inescapable truths rather than political choices.
Leaving aside the qualities of the author or this specific book (which has come in for plenty of criticism as well as praise), I raise an eyebrow at your proudly declared disdain for the idea of reading anything about the lower socioeconomic classes.
Scoffing at topics that aren’t elevated is largely how we got this curse of a “populist” movement in the first place.
One way his book is spun is that anyone coming from a deprived background can make it through application and hard work. Don’t pamper the poor people.
Fiona Hill and Tara Westover, with similar trajectories, lean heavily on chance and the good luck to meet fantastic mentors to warn that their journeys are not easy to replicate.
Exactly. Vance has a lottery winner’s hubris. Everybody can do what I did, so why help them? Never mind the millions left on the wayside. Government should be run for the millions, not the lottery winners.
Cary Grant, too, was said to have felt that “anyone” could do what he did. Sure, if you were born with his looks, charm, ambition, athleticism, talent, energy, and a burning desire not to be what you grew up with.
Replying to harpie
July 15, 2024 at 6:15 pm
“The facial hair is almost like a uniform for these guys at this point.”
…as ubiquitous as the ‘Hitler Youth’ haircuts on SS Agents.
Yes, exactly.
Me and my beard, worn since I was twenty-five, (I’m mumble now) beg to differ.
Where I live, I use certain facial hair styles to immediately assume Trumpy. For example the white, Wilfred Brimley-esq long mustache from chin around to chin on anyone, men over 50 with a tight mustache/goatee, young men with bushy-bear beards (some baseball players excluded, some not), and any guy who trims his beard below the chin but lets the cheeks and mustache fly. There are others, but all of them just scream MAGA
With Vance, it’s only necessary to look at a few photos of him clean-shaven to understand he has a beard because he looks amusingly baby-like without one.
“As a parent of young children and a nationalist who worries about America’s low fertility I can say with confidence that daylight savings time reduces fertility by at least 10 percent.” JD Vance in 2020
Comment: Huh
When the biggest proven issue to GOTV for over half our population is reproductive autonomy, go with this guy:
“If your worldview tells you that it’s bad for women to become mothers but liberating for them to work 90 hours a week in a cubicle at the New York Times or Goldman Sachs, you’ve been had.”
@JDVance1
10:37 AM · Jun 26, 2022
To which Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez replied:
“We cannot allow this ding-dong who doesn’t seem to know the typical American seeking reproductive care is already a MOTHER, & who also thought fertility had to do with Daylight Savings become the next US Senator for Ohio,”
Yes. His wife was a corporate litigator for the prestigious law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson, until today.
I’m beginning to think this is a gift.
Joy Reid thinks it’s the best thing that’s happened to the Democrats in a month. I hope she’s right, but we still have to make the case–using Vance to impeach Trump, as it were, which in turn makes Vance look like dignity wraith he is.
Vance is also one of those wackos who has bought into the bullshit claim that women like to use abortion as a replacement for birth control…
JD Vance was said to have been a protege of Amy Chua, the “tiger mom,” at Yale Law, the same school that gave us Brett Kavanaugh who likes beer. Ah, the benefits of an Ivy League education, well, at least one of the “major” Ivies, as Ted Cruz would say.
Not to change the ugly subject, but I also read that RFK Jr was meeting with Trump today to discuss “Unity.” Such a bunch. JD Vance seems to me to have very low appeal, visually or otherwise.
One doesn’t need much experience in government if the intent is to destroy it. And foreign policy chops are important if we will be outsourcing that to Putin.
I wonder if Vance is the billionaires’ succession policy.
ABSOLUTELY. I would be very cautious if I were Trump. He might want to hire a court taster, now that he is vying for King.
From Thiel’s history, I think he might need to worry more about fall risk.
Vance knows that he will be no ordinary Vice President. The principal job of the VP is to act as an understudy. It has no official duties, except occasionally to preside over the Senate, in a legislative, not executive branch, capacity as its president. The VP normally ends up doing a lot of grunt work the President isn’t interested in. (I think Biden and Harris have arranged the job differently, to great effect.)
But what Vance, his backers, and most of the pary’s movers and shakers know is that Trump is unlikely to have the normal shelf of a sitting president. He’s one slip, one McBurger away from a stroke or heart attack. And, boy, does that open up possibilities for a guy steeped in private equity, like Vance.
Trump is also one hamburger away from a Court judgement assigning him to a jail cell during his first months in Office. He can’t pardon himself for State crimes, can he?
Trump’s a menu away from being incarcerated for his 34 felony convictions. For starters, first-time non-violent felony convictions rarely serve time, though Trump has worked hard to force the judge into making him the exception.
Then there’s that the convictions are not final until sentencing, which has been delayed for several weeks. Judge Merchan needs time to consider the impact of the immunity decision. Most of the counts should survive, under the principle of harmless error. But it seems unlikely Trump would serve a custodial sentence, even house arrest, until his appeal to the Appellate Division is sorted out.
Not much is gonna happen before election day. And I’m taking no bets that, if Merchan wants to put him in jail for a few weeks, the Supremes won’t step in and invent a way for the feds to stay a state court judgment that concerns the ability of their man to be the feisty, aggressive chief executive they want him to be.
At which point Vance steps forward and campaigns ‘in Trump’s place?’
And traumatic events, particularly those with a physical “reminder” to them, make the slips more likely and the McBurgers more deadly, especially among older adults. After very recent events, I suspect the only question is whether or not the VP will be eligible for 2 terms after they finish up the rest of the TFG’s.
22A. If it survives.
Yup. Back in the run-up to 2020 election there were nutjobs claiming Biden was going to “get sick” and step down Jan 21, 2023 just to help Kamala reach that decade mark. Biden has clearly shown that is never going to happen, and Trump would literally sooner die than step down voluntarily out of concerns for capacity.
Pence was a pick by a novice Trump to build consensus among conservatives.
Vance is a pick by a seasoned Trump to enforce his will.
This is not good for America
Even more dangerous will be Vance’s attempting to “take the pressure off my boss” by consolidating power for himself. Vance is a say and do anything kind of guy.
Does the J.D. pick make it less likely a 2nd term Trump would be impeached?
IMHO, “the J.D. pick” makes it “less likely [to be] a 2nd term Trump”.
Among other things, the fundamental, internationally recognized right to reproductive autonomy is a big fecking deal to a majority of Americans and Gen Z in particular.
This is the whole ballgame IMO.
Open thread? OK!~
Tim Snyder on the Trump assassination attempt:
https://snyder.substack.com/p/political-violence
Ryan Grim on the “Democratic PAC” that Crooks donated $15 to:
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/trumps-shooter-gave-15-to-a-progressive
(Dropsite is a new collaboration between Jeremy Scahill and Ryan Grim, who
have amicably separated themselves from the Intercept)
The (alleged) shooter was 20. He was a minor during the entire duration of Trump’s presidency. I understand people’s hopes in understanding “the why”, but it will not change the insistence by the frothy right that TFG is a martyr and regardless of shooter affiliation “Trump Derangement Syndrome” is to blame. We have a mental illness problem and a gun problem in the United States, and picking apart minute details of perceptions formed by an obviously troubled adult when he was an obviously troubled teenager feels useless at best.
Well they seem to be doing something to look like they’re doing something.
After a plane crash, the FAA does a similar picking apart minute details, but based on what they find, unlike with guns and mental illness, they do something to make the future safer. (Unless it’s the Reagan administration.)
I think it turned out that was a different Thomas Crooks.
Do you have link to the source of that?
No, it wasn’t. Journalist Hunter Walker:
“A lot of progressive accounts are spreading this claim and it is not true. I have verified the FEC records myself. They match the alleged gunman’s street address. … The donation is in the alleged gunman’s name and came from his street address. … A good number of people are looking for every reason for this not to be true and sharing completely random information in the process. It’s bizarre.”
I saw a donation record someone had found on Twitter. Probably a fake, then. I’ll see if I can get the URL to post below:
https: //x.com/acnewsitics/status/1812543831889313897
Remove the space after the ‘https:’ And be careful your security is up to date. These days I don’t trust Musk/X/Twitter at all.
Troutwaxer
7/15/24 @ 11:55 pm
Elon just promised to give $45 million/month until the election to a super PAC which will be at Trump’s disposal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKTPJYK0epo
Reply to Troutwaxer
July 15, 2024 at 11:55 pm
Yeah, one can find all sorts of claims on social media. I trust Walker (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Walker) as a source.
I keep coming back to the comment a former fellow student of his made, that he was kept off the school shooting team because they said he wasn’t a good enough shot.
Guess he showed them/everybody! It could be as simple as toxic simmering of grievances in an unbalanced mind – how grimly appropriate.
https://bsky.app/profile/donmoyn.bsky.social/post/3kxe5ac46m22j
Jul 15, 2024 at 6:32 PM
Links to:
Make America Hungary Again
MAGA’s obsession with Orban reveals they want authoritarianism, not greatness
Don Moynihan Mar 13, 2024
Wow…so, it seems this particular VP choice fits right in a TL I’ve been working on here:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2024/07/15/the-taiwan-snub/#comment-1060622
Also more here:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2024/07/12/transitive-transatlantic-authoritarianism-heritage-orban-trump/#comment-1060342
Tragic when one considers the history of Hungary under the USSR. They had to send tanks in to keep a Russian in power. Now their leader goes to Moscow to grovel willingly
Here’s a great CapitolHunters THREAD on ThreadReader:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1733920942181765378.html
1:45 PM · Dec 10, 2023 [includes screenshots and links]
This is the kind’a stuff I’ve “sensed” for quite a while is/was going on. But to see stuff like this, for me, very troubling. It wasn’t that long ago republicans went nuts when some liberals cited efficacy of foreign (mostly European) law. They attacked it as though even talking about it was heresy.
And now, here we are with this.
The Democrats should run 3 ads on a loop. The first should say that people say Trump is dangerous. Here’s what his own running mate said and then Vance’s Hitler quote. Ending with simply “We agree.” The second should tout Biden’s accomplishments for the middle class and plans for more in his second term. The third should highlight the Pugs plan to gut Social Security, and Medicare, cut taxes for the rich, while crashing the economy through tariffs and destroying the work force. Tie 2025 to Trump and and all other Pugs.
Just finished watching Lester Holt interview with Pres. Biden. Biden focused, calling Holt and Media out for not reporting on earlier Vance rhetoric about Trump; not reporting on violent language by Trump; not reporting about Vance’s extreme positions on Right to Choose, etc.
Good for him!
The President seemed quite “with it.”
Yes, he also called the media out for not wanting to focus on policy issues instead of optics and directly asked Lester Holt why there was no mention of the lies Trump told during the debate. I hope to see more of Biden responding this way in the future; anybody with doubts about his acuity should check the way his direct responses rattled Lester Holt.
The President was spot on. Satisfaction in calling out Holt.
Molly Pitcher says:
July 15, 2024 at 8:17 pm
She’s resigned from the legal job “to take care of her family”.
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/trump-vp-wife-usha-vance-leaves-sf-law-firm-19575551.php
Maybe Usha Vance, Amy Chua protege, former clerk for Kavanaugh and Roberts, was one of the “two reduced-hours attorneys (that) have been promoted to equity partner, with the expectation that the reduced-hours schedule would continue for as long as the attorneys desired” highlighted on the law firm’s website.
He’s really just bashing women though, since most mothers work, and most women become mothers.
It’s hard to overstate how rare that treatment is.
It’s petty, I know, but I think the real advantage Vance had over other Republican candidates is that he’s the only one with fingers as short as Trump’s.
MSNBC is pausing the shows, like Morning Joe, all of them actually, why?
What are they worried about? That they get sued?
So ridiculous. Now we need to watch the assassination attempt in a loop, or the Republican convention.
Is hhis is the only news available to watch?
Something is really fishy.
I don’t watch Fox. No idea what/how they cover the news. I can only imagine.
None of the MSNBC shows were instigating violence, whereas the violence was explicit from Trump and his enablers.
Should have Biden is a loop discussing unity, and put it in context, loop discussing Trump instigating violence, and put it in context.
It was a 1-day “pause”. Joe is back this morning ranting about the failures of the Secret Service.
Late to the party, but lots of interesting comments in this thread. Again, thank you Marcy and team. Some meta thoughts about the Vance nomination: Trump likes people who give up their supposed “values” for him. It shows that his dominance is so complete that they have essentially “sold their souls to him”. Vance was a Never Trumper who suggested Trump could become a “modern Hitler”. Autocrats, in general, like people who are easily compromised like the bearded turncoat from Ohio. At least Mike Pence tried to stay mainly true to his core “values” as absurd as they are.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter what Vance said about Trump before. Remember “voodoo economics”? Collectively, the American electorate has a short memory, and as regards Republicans it forgives/forgets past transgressions. Knowing this, GOP politicians can embrace a profitable combination of cowardice and opportunism and go along for the ride. Any past inconvenient statements/actions will be airbrushed away like a disgraced Soviet general from a 1930s photograph. Meanwhile the press will scurry like squirrels as the GOP throws new tasty nuts out into the yard. The dems have to beat them by going at them hard and presenting some sort of hope. The inflation rate going down will help, but convincing the electorate that, economically, things are actually quite good and that Project 2025 is a recipe for disaster will be difficult going.
Zirc
All I can add is calling the ticket: D. J. Trump and James David Vance. Aside from that, a Senator from Ohio I never would have voted for were I unfortunate enough to be in Ohio. It has always seemed a conservative State where Woody Hayes was its most outstanding citizen.
Biden – Harris vs. Trump – Vance. Now we know the complete ticket we will be voting against. Perhaps of interet two web items I have yet to read, one referencing the other, tying Vance to Roberts/Heritage/Project 2025: https://www.alternet.org/jd-vance-project-2025-heritage/ which links to the other: https://newrepublic.com/post/183841/project-2025-overjoyed-trump-vice-president-vance
It seems Trump wanting to distance from Project 2025 then picking Vance might make it easier to tie the ticket to the Project. Perhaps they want that, and Trump’s distancing tweet, clearly false, may have been his effort to get Proj. 2025 known to his base membership. However, Project 2025 is so boat-rockingly stupid that it should be tied tightly to that ticket, IMO.
I know nothing about the authors of the two items, but recognize the sites. And I have yet to read them, but thought it helpful to get them on the thread soon because others might want to check them. Making much of Project 2025 seems already afoot, and a good play, again, IMO.
”….State where Woody Hayes was its most outstanding citizen.” You mean he wasn’t ?….you must be from Michigan.
…”5 yards and a cloud of dust”…you mean…that Woody Hayes?
-former buckeye … 44 years on the west coast now
HEADS UP, MICHIGAN!
Marc Elias:
https://bsky.app/profile/marcelias.bsky.social/post/3kxfkvdklsk2d
Jul 16, 2024 at 8:09 AM
links to Democracy Docket:
Trump Campaign, RNC Sue Whitmer Over Michigan Voter Registration Sites
by Crystal Hill July 15, 2024
These Fvckers BELIEVE that only THEY can have “authority”.
…attacking an Uppity Woman on the first day of their Convention.
We need to UNDERSTAND what they’re showing us, and ACT accordingly.
Next paragraph…another Uppity Woman:
These FVCKERS BELIEVE this is their BIRTHRIGHT.
Funny how the RNC+Team Trump think this bit of the Constitution:
is now relevant but a state legislature prescribing omission of certain candidates from the ballot isn’t, provided Trump-appointed SCOTUS jurists give their blessing.
Consistency is for losers, LOL!
/ s
THEY ARE PLANNING TO CHALLENGE THE ELECTION EVEN IF THEY WIN
https://bsky.app/profile/swin24.bsky.social/post/3kx3vsa7unk2s
Jul 12, 2024 at 11:57 AM
Links to:
‘Georgia Is Our Laboratory’: Inside Trump’s Plan to Rig 2024
Team Trump sees Georgia as ‘a road map’ for putting Trump’s heads-I-win-tails-you-lose philosophy of elections into practice
Rolling Stone Rawnsley / Suebsaeng June 8, 2024
They CAN NOT WIN without CHEATING.
Their plan seems to be to do away with elections. They can’t rig them all. God will anoint whomever is needed.
I assumed something like this was in the works.
I’d bet good $$ Mrs. Vance’s resignation was purposed to join this team, as led by Stephen Miller. That’s the “family” she wants to spend more time with.
These guys are working overtime, in the shadows to avoid scrutiny, and I suspect will pounce with brute force come election time. No telling how many lawyers involved. Seems like higher caliber than the Easman’s and Cheese’s last time. Blitzkrieg.
https://bsky.app/profile/lolgop.bsky.social/post/3kxe4vjzmpk2p
Jul 15, 2024 at 6:26 PM
Links to:
Trump Campaign Ads Are Monetizing Pro-Nazi Content on Rumble
Team Trump blames the streaming platform’s algorithm for placing its campaign ads against a video calling Nazi book burning “justified” and “awesome”
[Rolling Stone] Tim Dickenson 3/14/24
hmmmm…there was a lot happening in mid-March.
Also published mid-March [3/13/24]: Don Moynihan’s [linked above]
Make America Hungary Again
MAGA’s obsession with Orban reveals they want authoritarianism, not greatness
Sarah Posner:
https://bsky.app/profile/sarahposner.bsky.social/post/3kxe35mcos226
Jul 15, 2024 at 5:54 PM
Links to:
Five faith facts about Trump’s VP pick, JD Vance If Trump is elected,
Vance would be the second Catholic vice president in US history — after Joe Biden.
Religion News // Jack Jenkins, Aleja Hertzler-McCain // July 15, 2024
No wonder Ross Douthat loves him so much. They’re both middling-intellectual Catholic supremacists who think highly of themselves.
This is how Catholic writer Gertrude Clarke in a piece for U.K. Catholic Herald described “Integralism”
“Integralism: How Catholics can lose friends and alienate people”
https://catholicherald.co.uk/integralism-how-catholics-can-lose-friends-and-alienate-people/
In Clarke’s critique
“Integralism is an aspiration for the Church to run secular government”
@Harpie
another data point/connection/influence is Oren Cass whose book Vance read at a crucial point in his struggle towards conversion and rethinking his theological and political outlook.
1April 2020 he discusses his conversion in August 2019 at length in the Lamp
https://thelampmagazine.com/blog/how-i-joined-the-resistance
At a crucial point he reads
“This is a passage from City of God, where Augustine summarizes the debauchery of Rome’s ruling class:
[Quote] ….
It was the best criticism of our modern age I’d ever read. A society oriented entirely towards consumption and pleasure, spurning duty and virtue. Not long after I first read these words, my friend Oren Cass published a book arguing that American policy makers have focused far too much on promoting consumption as opposed to productivity, or some other measure of wellbeing…
And indeed it was this insight, more than any other, that ultimately led not just to Christianity, but to Catholicism“
Oren Cass https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oren_Cass
The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America. Feb 2019
In February 2020, Cass established American Compass, an organization focusing on “what the post-Trump right-of-center is going to be.”[4] However, ahead of the 2024 election, American Compass laid out a set of economic policies intended for a second Trump administration.[5] American Compass is a member of the advisory board of Project 2025,
re: American Compass, something from November I saved but haven’t read yet [OY! But now it’s not paywalled]:
Jane MAYER
https://twitter.com/JaneMayerNYer/status/1727320183910420631
8:36 AM · Nov 22, 2023
Conservative Group Accidentally Reveals Its Secret Donors. Some of Them Are Liberal Orgs. American Compass included five keys [sic] names on a 2022 tax statement that The Daily Beast obtained https://www.thedailybeast.com/conservative-group-accidentally-reveals-its-secret-donors-some-of-them-are-liberal-orgs Roger Stollenberger
Updated Nov. 22, 2023 12:44PM EST / Published Nov. 22, 2023 4:58AM EST
@Harpie your snip cut out this bit
“According to an interview with American expatriate and writer Rod Dreher, who was present at the baptism, Vance chose St. Augustine as his patron saint.”
Dreher is expatriated to Hungary where he was in 2021 a fellow at the Danube Institute, Orbán sponsored think tank. Dreher is a radical integralist Catholic.
NB his book ‘The Benedict Option’ described by one critic Alan Levinovitz, a religious scholar at James Madison University, as “spiritual pornography,” the soul of which “is not love of God; it is bitter loathing of those who do not share it.”
However, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito cited The Benedict Option in a court ruling in favor of the freedom of hiring by two religious schools on July 8, 2020. Which occurrence Dreher crowed about greatly https://www.theamericanconservative.com/big-scotus-win-for-religious-liberty/
OH! Thanks!
The name sounded familiar from my work yesterday, but it didn’t click…wow!
https://www.emptywheel.net/2024/07/15/american-hitler-jd-2024/#comment-1060735
How Viktor Orbán Conquered the Heritage Foundation Once the redoubt of Reaganism, the think tank has taken to promoting Trump’s favorite strongman.
https://newrepublic.com/article/179776/heritage-foundation-viktor-orban-trump Casey Michel March 15, 2024
@Harpie, You’re welcome.
You were expanding on a slightly different point.
And the reference in the original article was somewhat coy.
But it occurred to me that the facts that Dreher was present at the baptism, and then published an interview with Vance about his spiritual journey etc, demonstrated a degree of closeness between the two which merited being highlighted in light of Dreher’s outlook and influence.
Reply to SteveBev July 16, 2024 at 12:36 pm
That is a great catch.
I wonder if there was a “significant grant” “dole[d] out”
with regard to that 8/XX/19 “conversion”.
Good indicator that “Benedict” is closer to Levinovitz’s description than Alito’s: David Brooks praised it.
I also think Alito would take pride in Levinovitz’s characterization. He seems to enjoy his “bitter loathing” of those who do not share his version of God and Her love. It’s a duty, really, like a Crusade. Sam was born about 900 years too late.
Both Vance and Kevin Roberts are mid-life Catholic politicians akin to Leonard Leo and his Justices. Comes with an agenda?
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/j-d-vance-becomes-catholic/ – by Rod Dreher – https://www.theamericanconservative.com/author/rod-dreher/
Comes with what agenda? Project 2025?
https://www.ncronline.org/news/catholic-leader-champions-heritage-foundations-right-wing-brand
They are intense to have pregnant women give birth; it is not a preference, it is a dogma. Department of Life and all that entails. Tying Roberts and Vance together with a bow labeled “Project 2025 Bros.” would not anger me one bit. Even if done with a heavy hand and propagandist repetition.
I misplaced this post
https://www.emptywheel.net/2024/07/15/american-hitler-jd-2024/#comment-1060910
Although addressed to Harpie, it goes to the point you have made about a Project 2025 connection
To me, what remains the most interesting thing about these dogmatic, revanchist new Catholics, whom one would naively assume to be Christians, is the utter lack of Christ in their discourse.
The closest they usually get is the Pauline Epistles, which paved the way for many a patriarchist rule maker. But their true passion is the Old Testament, with all its wonderful wars and death and punishments. Jesus is Love…what use is that? Hatred and fear are far more useful to the Drehers and Vances of this world.
“I think the rejection of the American family is perhaps the most pernicious and the most evil thing that the left has done in this country,” said Vance, a father of three.
He then went on to suggest that several Democratic politicians, like Kamala Harris and New Jersey senator Cory Booker, should not have political power because they do not have children.”
Carter Sherman
The Guardian
July 16, 2024
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/16/jd-vance-abortion-rights-groups
https://web.archive.org/web/20210726193813/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/07/j-d-vance-maybe-parents-should-get-more-votes.html
Given that the Republican platform is advocating “fetal personhood”, imagine the bonus for a MAGA voter pregnant with triplets!
Would this also mean that each egg counts for a vote, or do they have to be fertilized first?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Vance was “educated” at Yale. How did this dingbat ever graduate with this level of reasoning(sic)?
With every utterance of every politician who graduated from Yale
(DeSantis, et al), I continue to be amazed at the poor education people are receiving for the mount of tuition it costs to attend Yale.
Ms Blatt: Justice Alito, I don’t know how old you are, but you went to law school, you’re very smart, you’re analytical, you have hindsight bias, and maybe you know something –
Justice Alito: Well, I went to a law school where I didn’t learn any law –
~Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc. v. VIP Products
3/22/23
There are many forms of intelligence. Kris Kobach, for example, graduated summa from Harvard College, earned a doctorate from Oxford and a law degree from Yale. But his street smarts are virtually non-existent, he’s a lousy litigator, and probably can’t find his car in the parking lot.
Vance’s street smarts, on the other hand, are only exceeded by his ambition. He doesn’t have to believe anything he says, but he’s willing to say anything. Much like Trump.
I’m sure the US would be much better off if one of the most powerful voters there is Josh Duggar…
Vance’s bullshit is just begging for an Angry Mom post from me.
How is it freedom to be forced to have children no matter one’s personal situation? No matter one’s background? No matter one’s health, mental or physical?
Ugh. I’m going be stewing on this, elevating my blood pressure.
Re: “Vance’s bullshit is just begging for an Angry Mom post from me.”
Do eeet! ;)
(But as a cathartic amusement exercise to lower your blood pressure. We need you!)
Once again, this makes IVF a sticky wicket, as it were, for the MAGA platform.
Sorry, Rayne.
I suddenly had to go out in the 90-degree heat and do some pruning. LOL!
One thing that really gets to me is that
VANCE is the beneficiary of a very COEXIST-friendly Hindu spouse,
but his party wants to FORCE all the rest of us to live by precepts that are NOT ours,
ie: does NOT want to COEXIST.
Also…echo Clare Kelly re: Angry Mom post.
“I suddenly had to go out in the 90-degree heat and do some pruning. LOL!”
I did the same today! Ugh!
And JD allowed himself to convert from evangelical Protestant to Catholic (just the opposite of what Pence did) and thinks it’s just swell to allow his religion to influence politics. But he doesn’t think married people (especially women) should be allowed to divorce. What a control freak. Sounds like another malignant narcissist.
Vance is a more confident, aggressive, and ruthless Brett Kavanaugh. His ambition exceeds Kavanaugh’s. He would have seen the writing on the wall, concerning a likely Catholic majority on the Supreme Court.
“I suddenly had to go out in the 90-degree heat and do some pruning.”
For some reason, that conjured up the memory of the photos of Dubya “clearing brush” on his ranch back in the day.
Stay cool!
Vance is also one of those assholes who think that women should stay with abusive men “for the children”…
harpie, you inspired me to go out in the 90 degree heat and prune my bleeding heart bush. I inherited a garden in our new place, and am trying to bring myself up to first gear if not highway speed when it comes to tending to plants. Animals have always been my strong suit.
Vance is opportunistic in all things. His so-called “faith” strikes me as jumping on the conservative (meaning reactionary and creepy) Catholic bandwagon along with his Fed Soc friends like Leonard Leo. They can and do dictate his beliefs, which he churns into policy, and in return they funnel unimaginable amounts of money in his general direction.
Now that a (majority Catholic) SCOTUS has made bribery fine and legal for POTUS (and presumably VPOTUS too), there’s no reason for this sweet little setup to change.
Ginevra! Good to see you…seems as though you might be settling in in the new place! Have fun with the gardening!
SL: I hope it helped! Take it easy. :-)
Thanks, ExRacerX! It was great to get back inside! Am hydrating ever since. ;-P
https://www.salon.com/2024/07/16/shift-spouses-like-they-change-their-underwear-jd-vance-decried-divorce–but-now-loves/
Vance has also said “Part of the problem American decline is people who believe that not having kids is, like, a lifestyle brand … [that having kids] is bad for the environment, bad for the climate,” and in response to the question “Should a woman be forced to carry a child to term after she has been the victim of incest or rape?” said “I think the question betrays a certain presumption that’s wrong. It’s not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term, it’s whether a child should be allowed to live, even though the circumstances of that child’s birth are somehow inconvenient or a problem to the society.”
https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/DearOhio/2021/09/21/dear-ohio–senate-candidate-j-d–vance
There’s more in the audio clip, but that’s as much as I care to transcribe.
As if bring a pregnancy to term after being raped is just a matter of “inconvenience.” He’s now trying to moderate his stance on abortion, but this is what he actually believes.
There’s no position too extreme for J.D. I wonder how his super successful wife feels about his misogyny?
BTW, he calls his two years as an enlisted Marine (before college) the defining moment of his life. He served as a pubic relations guy in Iraq.
“pubic relations” is perhaps my all-time favorite typo (I need to grow up)
Ignorance is a choice.
To me JD Vance looks like the job security pick for Susie Wiles. It’s my understanding that he was her #1 choice. And it seems in character with who she is and how she operates. Like Trump, JD is a fabulist who manipulates perception for personal and political gain and control. Not only does Susie seem to admire men like these, she also seems to share these traits, as can be seen in a Politico article by Michael Kruse, 4/26/24, “The Most Feared and Least Known Political Operative in America.”
From a psychological perspective, Susie confides to Kruse that Trump is very much like her own father, Pat Summerall. The obituary below says, “George Allen Summerall was born May 10, 1930, in Lake City, Fla., with a deformed foot that required surgery to repair. Reared primarily by his paternal grandmother, he got the nickname “Pat” when he was a boy.” It also mentions he got a masters degree in Russian history and planned to teach.
https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-xpm-2013-apr-16-la-me-pat-summerall-20130417-story.html
It doesn’t take much of a stretch of the imagination to see how Wiles might think JD Vance fits in the same mold as her own father. JD also claimed to have a difficult childhood and to be raised by his grandparents. JD also had a name change (several, in fact) from James Donald Bowman to James Hamel to James David Vance. Like Susie’s father, Vance is also interested in advancing Russian interests.
I spent 3 of my preteen years living in a town just 35 miles from where JD grew up. It wasn’t and isn’t Appalachia. It’s definitely outside the outer perimeters. But fabulists love to self promote. Oh, I also think Trump probably likes to be compared to Hitler. He has freely admitted his admiration for him.
Thanks SL! I always learn something from you. :-)
Thank you, SL. I did not know the Wiles-Vance connection, or its genesis. And I always forget she is Summerall’s daughter.
I lived in central Ohio for two years. Spent most of my nonworking hours driving around the state, exploring in spokes-of-a-wheel fashion. It’s a fascinatingly varied state. My recollection is that Vance’s hometown was nothing like the Appalachian foothills outside of Raleigh, NC where I grew up. I’ve never understood the descriptor “Appalachian” applied to him, except as something people who don’t know the actual region might be gulled into adopting to flatter his self-image.
Oh, my, yes. Vance is a fabulist. I see his book as a way to differentiate himself from the folks living on the wrong side of the tracks in his home town of Middletown, which is widely regarded as one of the top ten best small towns in Ohio. Rather like Andy Griffith’s Mayberry. If he felt poor, it was on an adjusted curve. He was well-to-do by real Appalachian standards.
Vance was also applying for wingnut welfare, because the thrust of his book is that the pain of the poor is largely self-inflicted, and not a function of corporate greed, systemic economic change, and a very tilted playing field.
I would note Vance happily accepted the socialism of in-state tuition rates at Ohio State and scholarships at YLS. But that was before he saw the light.
Pat Summerall played with Jack Kemp, and it looks like they shared politics.
When Kemp was quarterback with Buffalo Cookie Gilchrist was running back, and said he would not block for Kemp, saying it in vivid terms. They differed in outlook. So a line traces from Jack Kemp to Susie Wiles, Trump, and J.D. Vance? It figures.
Rayne and Marcy, I apologize for getting stuck in the pokey. I think I exceeded the word limit. Thanks for all your help.
No biggie, SL. Sorry I couldn’t clear it faster. May have been a combination of active link and unknown trigger words.
An earlier comment mentioned the wife quitting the high power law firm. They were students together at Yale Law School, marrying after graduation. Her Wiki page – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usha_Vance – notes:
”
She attended Yale University, graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in history, with membership in Phi Beta Kappa. She then attended Clare College, Cambridge, in England as a Gates Cambridge Scholar, receiving a Master of Philosophy degree in early modern history in 2010.[11] In 2013, she graduated Juris Doctor at Yale Law School, where she was the Executive Development Editor of the Yale Law Journal and Managing Editor of the Yale Journal of Law & Technology.[12][13][14]
While at Yale Law School, Chilukuri met her future husband, J. D. Vance, a relationship encouraged by their professor Amy Chua.[15] In 2013, Chilukuri and Vance collaborated to organize a discussion group at Yale focused on the topic of “social decline in white America.”[16]
Career
She served as a law clerk from 2014–2015 for then–District of Columbia Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh and from 2017–2018 for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.[17] She was admitted to the DC Bar in May 2019 and worked for the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP until July 2024.[18]
She has served on the board of the Gates Cambridge Alumni Association and as secretary of the board of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.[19]
”
So a Kavanaugh pre-SCOTUS and Roberts SCOTUS clerkship, and a Gates money connection re her Cambridge scholarship. The pair are connected Catholic and big money connected, JD converted Catholic 2019, she had the two Catholic clerkships, but apparently remains Hindu. Wiki noted both her parents hold professorships. Living in Ohio, three children so far, so she must have been a remote big firm lawyer, the firm headquartered in the Bay Area, office in DC. Commercial litigation was her main practice area. At a guess, appellate practice more than motions or trial, if remote and in light of the clerkships.
A real power couple. Guessing, Federalist Society members, both. Leonard Leo picked the Justices, maybe too the VP.
“Social decline in white America”?!?!?!? Fucking barf.
Assholes like the Vances are the biggest contributors to this alleged decline!
A little more thoughtfulness and a little less emotional dumping, thanks.
Vance’s family tree and history display symptoms of social decline but not in values as much as adequate education including analytical systems thinking which can identify root causes.
When we let “conservatives” conserve their profits cutting back on taxes necessary for public services, society produces inadequately educated citizens — even those who manage to get a Yale degree.
Or maybe *especially* those who get a Yale degree?
The far-right wing of elected politics is littered with with Yale Law degrees, sought for the access they guarantee to various upper echelons–law, academia, but mainly politics, which subsumes media when senators moonlight as podcasters and congressmen rush off the floor for their Fox hits.
Living in New Haven makes one aware of how many students Yale Law School admits each year. Yes, it’s highly selective, but hundreds of them show up every August. Graduates number in the thousands. As some prominent examples have shown, it’s perfectly possible to graduate at the top of your class without once opening your mind.
Reply to Ginevra diBenci
July 16, 2024 at 5:26 pm
I would like to say *especially* Yale law degrees but someone I respected deeply was a Yale grad and not at all an asshole. I’ve also known other Ivy League grads who’ve run the spectrum.
Vance’s problem began before Yale, continues after Yale — he’s out of touch while desperately trying to find and hang on to a touchstone which will cement his identity. He has and will vacillate for the lack of an internal core identity and ethos he demands of everyone else.
Replying to Rayne
16 July 24 6:10 p.m.
I’m sorry, Rayne; I should have prefaced my disparagement by clarifying that I am an Ivy League graduate myself. While it has taken decades of therapy for me to achieve true self-respect, I went to school (two Ivies, undergrad and grad) with a number of people I liked and respect greatly.
I’ve worked with Yale Law grads who are wonderful human beings. The Ivy League has always attracted the super-ambitious, however, and in recent decades those law schools (Harvard and Yale) seem unwilling or unable to weed out candidates using them as stepping stones to power. In fact, they (at least Yale) seem to cultivate them.
I hope this trend passes.
“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible… problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know, I’ve tried to deal with them.” —Barry Goldwater
“I am frankly sick and tired of the political preachers telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in A, B, C, and D. Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? ” – Barry Goldwater
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/369997.Barry_M_Goldwater
Trump committed at least 34 felonies and 1 rape but says the bible is his favorite book. So there’s that.
Yet he couldn’t come up with a single quote from his favorite book. Like a high school kid taking a test on a book he hasn’t read.
Don’t despair! Here’s a Trump word-salad with god dressing for you, instead:
“Religion is such a great thing it’s so it keeps you know there’s something to be good about you want to be good; you wanna it’s so important.”
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-really-said-religion-is-such-a-great-thing-theres-something-to-be-good-about/
It’s his favorite book. Not to read but because MAGA Christians are so easily conned.
MsJenny, thank you for this reminder of exactly how radicalized the radical right has really become.
The first political book I read was Goldwater’s Conscience of a Conservative. I did it to impress a boy my sophomore year of high school. Joe had started the first Young Republicans club I ever heard of; he was the only member. Carrying Goldwater’s slim blue paperback around as ostentatiously as possible seemed like my best play. (I later learned Joe just wanted to go home after school and get high alone. I doubt he ever knew about my crush.)
I liked Goldwater’s book. It didn’t “convert” me, but I thought he made some good points and I liked how he wrote. My parents, liberal civil rights workers who put their lives on the line in Deep South in the early 1960s, were “appalled” by my reading choice–a bonus for a teenager with little else to rebel against.
William Buckley would leave me cold. But Goldwater started a habit for me of seeking out books and articles by The Other Side, something I believe in deeply because it helps us remember that they too are human.
You are welcome. Goldwater came to mind after watching the documentary “Bad Faith.” He was conscious of the movement years ago warning the public about the radical religious right. Riveting to watch. Highly recommend. On Amazon Prime, 99 cents. Worth the money.
BAD FAITH: Christian Nationalism’s Unholy War on Democracy. Trailer #2
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WYseVO29ZU&t=7s)
I watched it. It was informative. I do think there were some gaps in it, though. Some parts were repetitive and some important things were glossed over or left out entirely.
I was a little surprised about two-thirds the way through when they briefly focused on micro-targeting. They showed a map of a county, which happened to be the county where I live. It did make me wonder why they used that as an example.
Buckley’s “Firing Line” show helped me cut my teeth on critical thinking in politics. As an exercise, I would try to construct counter-arguments against him. Usually it wasn’t easy, and I never got to test them mano a mano with him.
In an interview with Charlie Rose he once said he didn’t discuss politics unless he was being paid to. He and I had in common amateur classical musicianship, an affinity for Bach in particular, and for keyboard instruments from Bach’s time. Given all that, I probably would have gotten on OK with him.
Also to his credit: way back when Trump first attempted to run for president as a third party candidate, Buckley recognized him for the demagogue he is; and he admitted that had he known what he knew later, he would not have supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq (lots of “conservatives” to this day refuse to).
“We are, like it or not, the party of lower-income, lower-education white people….”
-J.D.Vance
Fact check: TRUE.
Certainly not anywhere near fact, but certainly classist!
What about it is not a fact?
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/partisanship-by-race-ethnicity-and-education/
It all depends upon whether you think “party of” means refers to the party’s voters or its leaders—sure, a lot of low-income, low-education white folks vote Republican, but the party’s leaders are beholden to big business interests.
Nancy Pelosi might spend less time networking to replace Joe Biden and more time preparing for what to do when Republican state officials throw the election to the House of Representatives. It votes by state. Republicans control a majority of state governments. They have already said there’s enough “evidence” to challenge any result – meaning any winner but Trump.
I’m pleased to see the Congressional Progressive Caucus*, whom Nancy Pelosi vilified, largely support Biden/Harris.
*The CPC is the second largest Democratic Caucus in the House, with 98 members as of March 6, 2024.
Its not just Pelosi. It’s dem leadership across the board. Seems a little unfair to single out Nancy. I learned a long time ago, playing it safe is in the long run, not so safe. We are in the midst of those moments that define people’s lives, for better or worse. Too many dems, I think, have not learned this lesson.
I can’t speak to its veracity, but I think EOH was referring to a blurb in a Politico opinion piece, which has been repeated by a number of other outlets [as one does /s].
I won’t link to it but 19th paragraph:
“Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, convinced Biden will lose, has been working the phones since June 27 in hopes of finding a way to ease him off the ticket.”
Yesterday’s piece is by Jonathan Martin, entitled:
“Trump Once Unified Democrats and Divided Republicans. The Shooting And Debate Turned the Tables.”
Thx. If that story is accurate, I’m disappointed in her. Still, at least she’s doing it out of the limelight. Plenty of other dems doing it in front of cameras. I think that stuff belies lack of courage and more… lack of thorough preparation in knowing this moment we’re in.
I would treat anything from Politico, especially Martin, with extra care. I don’t see how “the shooting” in particular can be lumped in with the debate as some sort of combined inexorable force; it’s too recent for any effect on public opinion to be measurable.
Sen. Bob Menendez has been found guilty on all counts.
Sad. The Democratic Governor, Phil Murphy, would name a replacement for Menendez’s unexpired term, which ends this term. Menendez had already announced he would not run again in 2024, so voters are already teed up to replace him. In heavily Democratic NJ, Andy Kim is his likely successor.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/16/politics/bob-menendez-verdict/index.html
https://abcnews.go.com/US/sen-bob-menendez-federal-corruption-trial-verdict/\
https://www.reuters.com/legal/jury-reaches-verdict-us-senator-bob-menendezs-corruption-trial-2024-07-16/
Unless Menendez either chooses to resign or is expelled, he’ll remain in the Senate instead of being replaced. Schumer has called on him to resign.
ELECTION INTERFERENCE!
If they can convict him for taking bribes, including gold bars, they can do it to you too!
Such a nasty jury. RIGGED!
Unless, of course, you are POTUS Donald Trump, and those bribes are for Official Acts.
Under A Bus: I’m 73. A gop never gets elected president unless some Democrats vote for them. The classic example is after negotiating (Contragate) the Iranians to hold the US hostages, a failed rescue mission (helicopters didn’t function well in a sand environment) Jimmy Carter who was quite ahead in the polls, was defeated.
Point being Vance with a person of color wife & kids, will that swing enough voters? Combined with the self defeating (self hating IMO) Democrats who have never learned the lesson, one doesn’t diss and this time it’s way more than diss, the Presidential candidate, especially a current President.
The insane evil dictator candidate will throw Mr. & Mrs. Vance under the bus if elected. Pretty desperate gamble.
Myself I keep reflecting that Jimmy in his real beautiful spirit is still with us. May his truly completely a Democrat in the FDR spirit mold like Biden, channel us to victory.
Usha vs. Kamala vs. a multi personalities insane dictator for the new oligarchies? Lapdog anyone? : )
JD Vance is the Anglo version of Ted Cruz.
In short, J.D. Vance is the future of the Republican Party. Trump is how it gets there.
“U.S. begins dropping Jan. 6 obstruction charges against Proud Boys, others
“The Supreme Court’s June ruling narrowing use of an obstruction charge for Jan. 6 defendants is leading to misdemeanor plea deals for some Capitol riot defendants.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/07/16/jan-6-defendants-obstruction-charges-drop/
Worth breaking my WaPo-log in moratorium, thank you.
Here’s a gift article link.
https://wapo.st/4cI8vci
Nice to finally see a headline that uses “drop” correctly.
Isn’t “drop” just a synonym for “slam”? /s
“In Private Speech, J.D. Vance Said the “Devil Is Real” and Praised Alex Jones as a Truth-Teller
“Vance gave the speech to the secretive Teneo Network. The GOP vice presidential nominee has been a member of the Leonard Leo-backed group, which seeks to cultivate conservative influence in business and culture.”
https://www.propublica.org/article/jd-vance-alex-jones-leonard-leo-teneo-maddow-video
Includes a 1/2 hour video and transcript.
Thanks very much, c-i-v-i-l!
I haven’t read it yet, but early in that piece ProPublica/Documented links to their previous piece on Teneo, from 3/9/23. It also is well worth a read.
Inside the “Private and Confidential” Conservative Group That Promises to “Crush Liberal Dominance” Leonard Leo, a key architect of the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority, is now the chairman of Teneo Network, a group that aims to influence all aspects of American politics and culture.
Thanks to both c-i-v-i-l and harpie for these links. This is exactly what I was talking about in a comment I made earlier about Vance’s opportunistic Catholicism. In some ways it’s the biggest trend going among wannabe authoritarians.
What does Vance think of Republican Protestants who don’t believe in Catholic transubstantiation? Are they going to hell? What does he think of Republican Catholics who ignored the pope’s statement that vaccines are an act of love and a moral obligation?
Here’s a direct link to this same video on Pro Publica’s YT page:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU7n4id7uSM
Vance should know. He’s just done a deal with him that not even Daniel Webster could get him out of.
Vance is a scary dude. He is intelligent, dogmatic, and power-hungry. Not a great combination. I feel like he was chosen as he would slot nicely in for Trump with the MAGA extremists as a Trump successor/replacement, but is far more cunning and ruthless. There’s a reason Peter Thiel chose him.
Kate Starbird, “Researcher of online rumors and disinformation” [bio]:
https://bsky.app/profile/katestarbird.bsky.social/post/3kxg2sewddk26
Jul 16, 2024 at 12:53 PM
Links to:
Making sense of rumors about the Trump assassination attempt
Center for an Informed Public Jul 15, 2024
OT:
I really enjoyed this.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-7th-circuit/116364926.html
Trump-appointed judges rule against white guy who sued after being fired for not taking DEI trainng.
I just read that Don Jr. and Eric are who talked Don Sr. into choosing Vance.
JD: “Peter (Theil), if you hit Don Jr. and Eric up with some $$$, they talk Dad into picking me.”
Or who knows, maybe they purchased the position directly from Don Sr. himself.
We have just under four (4) months to garner up everybody we can. Billionaires vs The Rest of Us
OT:
WTF is with the Franklin Graham tv prayer ads recently? You know Trump/MAGA is behind this somehow.
Seriously, why anyone would trust someone like Vance, who willingly does such a complete about face on his own prior opinion of Donald Trump, simply out of personal ambition/greed, is beyond me.
That’s one of my cardinal rules in life… when you know someone’s a liar, like Vance is proving to be here, DON’T TRUST THEM, period.
JUST DON’T… EVER… PERIOD.
As has been said so many of late, one of the GOP’s superpowers is their shamelessness…
They apparently feel no embarrassment or shame at all when they spin in a new, self-serving direction like Vance has done here.
And in closing, I’d like to congratulate myself here, for showing some admirable restrain in the use of overly colorful language to express how I really feel about the GOP these days.
WaPo BREAKING:
https://bsky.app/profile/washingtonpost.com/post/3kxgjnijdsc2s
Jul 16, 2024 at 5:19 PM
Links to:
Biden set to announce support for major Supreme Court changes The President has discussed the plans with constitutional scholars and members of Congress in recent weeks
Jamison Foser:
https://bsky.app/profile/nycsouthpaw.bsky.social
Jul 16, 2024 at 5:41 PM
Thanks harpie, that would be great!
Re: term limits though …
Julian Sanchez:
https://bsky.app/profile/normative.bsky.social/post/3kxgnftehf32n
And there’s no way that the current Congress would pass it to begin with. Still, I like these proposals as changes for Biden to add to his campaign.
Here’s a gift link: wapo.st/4bGC9gI
And in case anyone else finds this useful, there’s a Bluesky feed that gathers gift links: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:o4s55v3tsfph6whswxccpsia/feed/aaaixbb5liqbu (that’s where I found the link above)
Yay! The Good Lord must have come down and had a word with him. Hope it bears fruit.
He gave a fiery and effective speech to the NAACP today.
If he wins and gets a legislative mandate to do so, it should be one of his top priorities.
What an outstanding discussion in this thread today. Just a shout-out to everyone, especially Harpie (whoever he or she is /g). Can’t think of anywhere else I’d get this thorough an illumination on everything to do with JD.
Thanks! And thanks for all of your contributions!
Replying to Ginevra diBenci
July 16, 2024 at 5:49 pm
I’m not at risk of taking gleeful ‘Democrats in disarray!’ opinion pieces to heart, including those by Politico.
Thanks for your concern.
Clare, I hope that you of all people did not take that comment personally. Nancy Pelosi did at one time receive what I believed was unfair criticism here, and while Politico can contribute news of value, it can also feed the same gossip machine that loves to target Pelosi because she’s prominent, female, outspoken, and largely (not always) effective.
The current discussion feels a lot more fair and balanced, however, thanks largely to participation by folks like you bringing substantive and thoughtful comments to bear. I’m taking this as an opportunity to say I notice, and I appreciate what you do.
WSJ reports $45 M monthly slush fund set up by Musk and others. For the Trump Vance ticket, early GOTV. There is a Sky video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjILGULTcw0
complete with crappy background music.
Elmo’s promises are worth about the same as a Trump promise.
Other reporting calls it a contribution, not a slush fund.
Proudly liberal hillbilly Trae Crowder would like a word.
Love this! Thanks!
From Jessica Valenti’s Abortion, Every Day substack:
https://jessica.substack.com/p/jd-vance-on-abortion
And more:
“I certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally” (https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/17/politics/kfile-jd-vance-abortion-comments/index.html)
He also signed onto a letter from Republicans in Congress that highlights the Comstock Act (18 U.S. Code § 1461) and says “The reckless distribution of abortion drugs by mail or other carriers to pregnant mothers who have not been examined in-person by a physician is not only dangerous and unsafe, it is criminal. We demand that you act swiftly and in accordance with the law, shut down all mail-order abortion operations, and hold abortionists, pharmacists, international traffickers, and online purveyors, who break the Federal mail-order abortion laws, accountable. We also demand that, in light of these laws, you cease efforts to prevent States from regulating or prohibiting abortion drugs.” (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24834197-20230123-letter-on-comstock-to-doj)
And still more:
https://www.levernews.com/j-d-vance-wants-police-to-track-people-who-have-abortions/
I wish they’d have shared some of those records.
More on Vance wanting a federal ban:
“Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio told reporters, ‘We can’t give in to the idea that the federal Congress has no role in this matter …'”
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/election-results-republicans-eye-national-abortion-ban-rcna124365
Vance is an anti-abortion extremist.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/17/biden-assault-weapons-ban-ar15-trump/
I know that it won’t pass in this Congress, but Democrats should do this and make Republicans deal with the contrast between the weapon having been used against Trump and their own pro-assault-rifle stance.
Vance is hardly the first Republican to be highly critical of Trump, then do a 180. Graham and Cruz come to mind. It seems Orwellian. But the GOP always seemed to do the “party unity” thing better than the Democrats (who are currently bickering in public about whether Biden should drop out, which is a huge mistake, however you feel about the question).
I think that when a Republican criticizes Trump, then realizes his political career depends on his endorsement, and comes groveling for it, it feeds his ego. That’s where some of the Trump/Vance synergy is coming from.
This has been a very educational experience to read these comments. The problem is that these are complex points of view. Easy answers in 5 words or less are candy for politically lazy minds.
A bit of good voting news:
Marc Elias:
“BREAKING: Federal Court DISMISSES Trump campaign and RNC lawsuit challenging Nevada mail-in voting law. A big victory for our clients and the voters of Nevada. Another loss for the vote suppressing GOP. http://www.democracydocket.com/cases/nevada-ballot-receipt-deadline-challenge-rnc/ ”
https://bsky.app/profile/marcelias.bsky.social/post/3kxivmexh3c2r
I just read a piece by Andrew Perez of Rolling Stone that makes me look forward to the VP debate.
“J.D. Vance Endorsed a National Abortion Ban in the Grossest Way Possible
Trump’s running mate said a national abortion ban was necessary to keep George Soros from flying “black women” to California for abortions”
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/jd-vance-national-abortion-ban-soros-1235062748/
So glad this thread is still active. As an avid reader and irascible former and current bookseller/book lender/recommender, I would just like to add that his (unadVanced) hillbilly-ass book sucked big ones. Would not rec except to those most diligent in pursuit of the whole story wrt political candidates/authors.
NationalSecurityCounselors on CROOKS’ profile:
[he describes himself in another thread – which I will post – as a former “intel profiler”]
https://bsky.app/profile/natlseccnslrs.bsky.social/post/3kxkulgbhgi2e
Jul 18, 2024 at 10:45 AM
Following directly:
This was the previous THREAD I mentioned:
https://bsky.app/profile/natlseccnslrs.bsky.social/post/3kxdeszetr32l
Jul 15, 2024 at 11:15 AM
“ J.D. Vance Left His Venmo Public. Here’s What It Shows
The Republican VP nominee’s Venmo network reveals connections ranging from the architects of Project 2025 to enemies of Donald Trump—and the populist’s close ties to the very elites he rails against.”
https://www.wired.com/story/jd-vance-venmo/
I appreciated this pair of juxtaposed photos, one of 1960s white segregationist protesters and one of white RNC attendees yesterday holding up “Mass Deportation Now!” signs, and I thought that others might as well: https://bsky.app/profile/earlofedgecombe.bsky.social/post/3kxl342jyii2z
I went in search of more info about the B&W photo. It appears on the cover of the book Mothers of Massive Resistance — White Women and the Politics of White Supremacy and is a photo of women protesting Ruby Bridges’ integration of William Franz Elementary School in Louisiana in 1960. I haven’t been able to find the photographer though.
Given Vance’s (Trump’s, and Adam Schiff’s) stance on this extremist Israeli government’s devastation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, I’m adding this to the open thread:
“World Court says Israel’s settlement policies are in breach of international law”
Reuters
July 19, 20246:56 AM PDTUpdated 17 min ago
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/world-court-says-israels-settlement-policies-are-breach-international-law-2024-07-19/
This is a developing story.
Whew. Found it. I thought I’d never find an open thread. It took, 2.3 seconds of scrolling.
Come on, people. Rayne does not do this work for a living, She has a day job, family, and golf-widowhood to deal with, too.