They hate you. They hate you. They hate you. SMILE.

[pnwmom]

By Melissa Batchelor Warnke


http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-mirror-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-20160926-snap-story.html

At the first debate Monday night, Hillary Clinton’s main task is to walk the tightrope that us ambitious non-10s know so well. She has to play perfect; she needs to synthesize a lifetime of policy experience into layman’s terms, while smiling and wearing a female-president-material outfit, whatever that is. Any misstep is cause for ruin. On one side of the tightrope is a pit of “bitch” lava; on the other is a “not serious” pool of jello.

Trump has to be average. He has to try not to sound like the most unprepared, racist dude who’s ever run for president. He’s walking across a wide bridge of low expectations, bowling with bumpers.

We live in a world where a man like Trump can tell a woman like Clinton that he’s better qualified to be the president of the United States and what matters is not how absurd his statement is, but how amiably she responds to it.

That’s the voice we hear in the mirror.

They hate you.

They hate you.

They hate you.

Smile.

[sarae]

1. The amount of pre-debate tips

for Clinton I've heard from tv pundits is off the charts. It's overwhelming and ridiculous how much "advice" everyone has for Hillary Clinton.

They keep mentioning that Al Gore rolled his eyes and sighed too much in 2000 - so naturally Hillary needs to watch her gestures, expressions and tone. She needs to be firm and confident, but she can't come off as unlikeable and angry. She needs to display her knowledge, but she can't risk looking "schoolmarmish". She needs to be prepared, but she can't let the pressure get to her. She needs to answer the email questions in a way that puts the issue to rest, but she can't come off as defensive. She needs to be all things at once, without being too much of anything.

Trump? As far as I can tell, he just needs to not shit his pants.

[pnwmom]

2. Exactly. And that is infuriating. n/t

[BSdetect]

3. He would say she tricked him

with facts and the pressure caused him to do that.

[sarae]

5. LOL

...and he'd probably get points for blaming it on her.

[get the red out]

4. If his shit shook out his pants

and spatted on the floor, the media would applaud the aroma.

[sarae]

7. !!!

ewww...probably!

[meow2u3]

10. Gross!

I could smell his shit emanating from my computer!

[hibbing]

11. oh lordy hehehe n/t

[elmac]

20. Gross!!

[louis-t]

26. That's not accurate!!!1!11!

The hands are too big.

[Missn-Hitch]

14. Lol! I would love for the Orange Menace to get a case of explosive diarrhea on stage.

[louis-t]

27. Hey, that was my idea!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=8189239

[Missn-Hitch]

28. Haha! It hit me just the right way, I pictured it. I literally laughed out loud. Cheers.

[hfojvt]

23. too bad they are full of crap about Gore

Somerby always points out that Gore won all the post-debate polls.

But then, the next day the M$M created the whole "sigh" meme and everybody ran with it.

That is the thing that WE need to watch out for - the media's ability to create an attack out of nothing.

[sarae]

25. Exactly...

That's what I'm most afraid of - the post-debate spin by pundits.

[Mamajami]

29. I don't even think the media will have to do much. I am so disappointed to learn that so many

voters are so booted, hateful and racist. It just breaks my heart. Even worse, quite a few of them haven't been in the country for more than 10 years. I don't get it.

[tblue37]

30. That is also how they used one or two second roar of exuberance, uttered to motivate

supporters, to bring down Howard Dean.

[TygrBright]

6. Now just watch as the comments pile up to validate everything the writer's already written. n/t

[lillypaddle]

8. So true

and it makes me want to cry because it is.

[onecaliberal]

9. He isn't even qualified to wipe her ass, there I said it!

[Mc Mike]

12. She knows everything, her opponent knows nothing, is composed entirely out of weaknesses

and failures.

I hope Madame Secretary just relaxes and breathes, and kicks that orange nazi's ass for us. The millions of Americans that back her love her and hate drump.

Mass media has to weigh the risk of false equivalency coverage here. The good side isn't going to try to make a new Fox network, but will turn mass media off, en masse, if they support drump.

[retrowire]

13. Very true

And it's that gender issue that has me, despite my normal animosity, pulling for her. As a politician, I want her to be better. As a person, I like her. As a woman, I want her treated equally.

And this is why I wish her well tonight.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

15. Game

[senseandsensibility]

16. Wonderful OP.

Thank you for voicing what should be obvious.

[pnwmom]

17. Melissa Batchelor Warnke is the LA Times writer of this piece. Did you read the whole thing?

It's great!

[senseandsensibility]

18. Oh!

Slightly embarrassing. I confess I just skimmed it because I can't read really good things like this right now. I just can't handle it, wimp that I am. Bookmarking however. Hey...you should have
just taken the compliment. I wouldn't have been any wiser.

[pnwmom]

19. No problem. I wish I'd written it myself.

Hang in there! We'll all get through this somehow -- as infuriating as it can be.

[Hekate]

21. That's a devastating bit of writing, the more so because it is 100% true.

The latest from our helpful media? A couple of days ago I read here that if Hillary comes across as too knowledgable, she'll be perceived as a bully.

Right. You're the smartest kid in class, but because you are a girl, you better be sure to never raise your hand in class because nobody likes a teacher's pet, and nobody likes a smartass, and nobody likes .... a smart hardworking girl who doesn't know her place.

Especially if she grows up to be a highly accomplished smart hardworking woman who doesn't know her place.

But keep smiling.

[hfojvt]

22. Who hears that voice in the mirror?

You?

The average woman?

An ambitious woman?

What amazes me about Trump is the way he never seems to get called on his cluelessness. I mean I have run for public office, for actually pretty high office. I ran for Congress. As such waiting for my turn at a forum, I was watching the Senate candidates. For some of their questions I had to admit I did not have much of a clue. I know something about federal taxes, probably more than most people and have more than average education, but unlike an incumbent or a state legislator I have not heard a lot about various issues and unlike a rich candidate did not have somebody to prep me for a debate.

Anyway, so I see Trump get a question about nuclear missiles in the primary debate and from his answer, which was all hot air, it was clear to me that he did not have the first clue. Yet for some reason a majority of primary voters could not see that he was naked. Either that, or they just didn't care. I mean I was the same way. My man, John Edwards, was not that impressive in the debates in 2008, but I still supported him, because he seemed to be the only one making poverty an issue. (Although the debate moderators swept that issue under the rug, spending the first hour of the debate asking boring foreign policy questions about Pakistan).

But there are clearly a bunch of people who do NOT hate Hillary and there are also a bunch of people who DO hate Trump.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

24. Real discussions about misogyny are wayyyy overdue.

it won't be easy.

[Patiod]

31. One of the boys at work: "I heard they were both just yelling at one another"

Because when an adult woman talks to you for any reason about anything, they're "yelling"
(and yes, this boy has admitted Mommy issues)

[alarimer]

32. This hits home.

A lot of men deny that this happens to women. But we all have stories, don't we? I've got "resting bitch face" apparently, and so I used to get told to "smile" constantly. Now, I am of a certain age and invisible as a result, which is by and large a good thing.

Still, I want Hillary to win for many reasons, not the least of which is that the misogynist bullies will lose their shit when she does.

A lot of men simply hate women. Why, I have no idea, but they do. I think Trump and his supporters do, certainly. They hate others as well, but women most of all.

[apnu]

33. "Trump has to be average." And he failed to be average.

HRC walked the line like a pro. Trump had a 3 cm high curb to mount and he tripped and fell.