Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
StrictlyRockers
StrictlyRockers's Journal
StrictlyRockers's Journal
November 4, 2016
"Just received this from a deeply concerned parent. Daycare in Taunton, MA teaching kids to cheer for Trump and say Hillary's a liar."
Daycare employees taught the kids to cheer for Donald Trump & to say that Hillary Clinton is a liar
https://twitter.com/ShaunKing/status/794576016173711360"Just received this from a deeply concerned parent. Daycare in Taunton, MA teaching kids to cheer for Trump and say Hillary's a liar."
November 4, 2016
It appears that the FBIs anti-Clinton faction is not limiting its leaks to the Wall Street Journal. On Fox News Wednesday night, anchor Bret Baier claimed that two separate sources with intimate knowledge of whats going on with these FBI investigations told him an indictment in the Clinton Cash investigation is likely, barring some obstruction in some way. It is unclear how such an indictment would be secured without the cooperation of prosecutors who have already decided the Breitbart probe is meritless.
The leaks regarding the FBIs Breitbart probe, along with Comeys letter to Republican committee chairs, fit a larger pattern of the FBI spreading incomplete information that is damaging to Secretary Clinton.
An internal FBI office will investigate the FBIs decision to tweet out documents regarding President Clintons controversial Marc Rich pardon an investigation the FBI closed more than a decade ago. Similarly, on Monday, a series of news stories suggested that there might be a direct connection between Trump and the Russian government. Shortly after these stories were published, unnamed law enforcement officials helped contain the damage to Trump by telling the New York Times that they have not found any conclusive or direct link between Mr. Trump and the Russian government.
It is difficult, in other words, to escape the impression that a faction within the FBI is actively trying to elect Mr. Trump and to weaken Secretary Clinton. It appears to be doing so, moreover, in violation of Justice Department policy, and in violation of the basic principle that law enforcement should not spread rumors and innuendo in order to damage people they do not like.
The chilling implications of the FBI’s latest attack on Hillary Clinton
https://thinkprogress.org/the-chilling-implications-of-the-fbis-latest-attack-on-hillary-clinton-b91994c30659#.mxnqpvepaIt appears that the FBIs anti-Clinton faction is not limiting its leaks to the Wall Street Journal. On Fox News Wednesday night, anchor Bret Baier claimed that two separate sources with intimate knowledge of whats going on with these FBI investigations told him an indictment in the Clinton Cash investigation is likely, barring some obstruction in some way. It is unclear how such an indictment would be secured without the cooperation of prosecutors who have already decided the Breitbart probe is meritless.
The leaks regarding the FBIs Breitbart probe, along with Comeys letter to Republican committee chairs, fit a larger pattern of the FBI spreading incomplete information that is damaging to Secretary Clinton.
An internal FBI office will investigate the FBIs decision to tweet out documents regarding President Clintons controversial Marc Rich pardon an investigation the FBI closed more than a decade ago. Similarly, on Monday, a series of news stories suggested that there might be a direct connection between Trump and the Russian government. Shortly after these stories were published, unnamed law enforcement officials helped contain the damage to Trump by telling the New York Times that they have not found any conclusive or direct link between Mr. Trump and the Russian government.
It is difficult, in other words, to escape the impression that a faction within the FBI is actively trying to elect Mr. Trump and to weaken Secretary Clinton. It appears to be doing so, moreover, in violation of Justice Department policy, and in violation of the basic principle that law enforcement should not spread rumors and innuendo in order to damage people they do not like.
October 14, 2016
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM and RACHEL ABRAMS
OCT. 13, 2016
A person familiar with Mr. Trumps Apprentice contract, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe confidential terms, said M.G.M. would have to obtain Mr. Trumps permission before releasing unaired footage of him from the show, part of a clause granting Mr. Trump control over the use of his name and likeness.
The clause in Mr. Trumps contract is not unusual in reality television, and M.G.M. said on Wednesday that it intended to honor its agreements. Few Hollywood studios wish to be at the center of a fevered political dispute, and M.G.M.s statement did not mention Mr. Trump by name.
Still, some critics have wondered if Mr. Burnett whose other hits include Survivor, Shark Tank and The Voice was simply trying to maintain cordial ties with Mr. Trump, who retains a financial interest in the Apprentice franchise and whose on-air skills have generated tens of millions of dollars for Mr. Burnett. (The Celebrity Apprentice returns in January on NBC with Arnold Schwarzenegger taking over as host.)
Entertainment lawyers interviewed this week wondered if Mr. Trump would have much of a legal case if Apprentice footage were released. The name and likeness clause is typically invoked if a celebritys image is used for profit not as documentary evidence in a presidential campaign.
...
In a sign that Mr. Burnett was wary of the effect on his public image particularly in his left-leaning entertainment milieu his statement began with an emphatic phrase: I am NOT pro-Trump.
...
‘Apprentice’ Producer Denounces Trump but Won’t Release Possibly Damning Tapes
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/business/media/mark-burnett-apprentice-donald-trump.html?smid=tw-shareBy MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM and RACHEL ABRAMS
OCT. 13, 2016
A person familiar with Mr. Trumps Apprentice contract, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe confidential terms, said M.G.M. would have to obtain Mr. Trumps permission before releasing unaired footage of him from the show, part of a clause granting Mr. Trump control over the use of his name and likeness.
The clause in Mr. Trumps contract is not unusual in reality television, and M.G.M. said on Wednesday that it intended to honor its agreements. Few Hollywood studios wish to be at the center of a fevered political dispute, and M.G.M.s statement did not mention Mr. Trump by name.
Still, some critics have wondered if Mr. Burnett whose other hits include Survivor, Shark Tank and The Voice was simply trying to maintain cordial ties with Mr. Trump, who retains a financial interest in the Apprentice franchise and whose on-air skills have generated tens of millions of dollars for Mr. Burnett. (The Celebrity Apprentice returns in January on NBC with Arnold Schwarzenegger taking over as host.)
Entertainment lawyers interviewed this week wondered if Mr. Trump would have much of a legal case if Apprentice footage were released. The name and likeness clause is typically invoked if a celebritys image is used for profit not as documentary evidence in a presidential campaign.
...
In a sign that Mr. Burnett was wary of the effect on his public image particularly in his left-leaning entertainment milieu his statement began with an emphatic phrase: I am NOT pro-Trump.
...
October 12, 2016
What the electoral map would look like if just women were allowed to vote
According to Nate Silver at www.fivethirtyeight.com
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/election-update-women-are-defeating-donald-trump/
____________________________________________________________________
"Paybacks are a b****"
October 12, 2016
The new Trump/Pence logo
October 10, 2016
The Republican nominee was hypercritical of one up-and-coming singers skin.
10/10/2016 02:32 pm ET
Sam Stein
Senior Politics Editor, The Huffington Post
Dana Liebelson
Staff Reporter, The Huffington Post
Yet The Huffington Post was able to obtain and authenticate one transcript of an episode from the shows ninth season. The material isnt as jaw-dropping as Trumps 2005 hot mic moment, but it does further illustrate the Republican presidential nominees obsession with womens looks ― a trait that has drawn even more scrutiny since Trumps boasts that his fame allowed him to grope women have become public. (Trump has denied doing this.)
The episode, titled Beauty and Brains, aired in 2010. Contestants were tasked with making over a country music star before presenting them to three music industry insiders. They improved the stars interviewing skills, produced promotional packets and helped them prepare for live radio shows and performances.
One team managed Emily West, a budding musician who later appeared on Americas Got Talent. The other managed Luke Bryan, a country singer and songwriter who has gone on to notable success.
During the boardroom session that decided which team did the better job transforming its artist, Trump turned the conversation sharply ― and at times, uncomfortably ― to Wests physical appearance, specifically her skin.
I assume youre gonna leave this off, dont put this shit on the show, you know. But her skin, her skin sucks, okay? he says, according to the transcript. I mean her skin, she needs some serious fuckin dermatology.
<...>
The first off-camera leak from 'The Apprentice' drops
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-apprentice-transcript_us_57fbc511e4b0e655eab65823The Republican nominee was hypercritical of one up-and-coming singers skin.
10/10/2016 02:32 pm ET
Sam Stein
Senior Politics Editor, The Huffington Post
Dana Liebelson
Staff Reporter, The Huffington Post
Yet The Huffington Post was able to obtain and authenticate one transcript of an episode from the shows ninth season. The material isnt as jaw-dropping as Trumps 2005 hot mic moment, but it does further illustrate the Republican presidential nominees obsession with womens looks ― a trait that has drawn even more scrutiny since Trumps boasts that his fame allowed him to grope women have become public. (Trump has denied doing this.)
The episode, titled Beauty and Brains, aired in 2010. Contestants were tasked with making over a country music star before presenting them to three music industry insiders. They improved the stars interviewing skills, produced promotional packets and helped them prepare for live radio shows and performances.
One team managed Emily West, a budding musician who later appeared on Americas Got Talent. The other managed Luke Bryan, a country singer and songwriter who has gone on to notable success.
During the boardroom session that decided which team did the better job transforming its artist, Trump turned the conversation sharply ― and at times, uncomfortably ― to Wests physical appearance, specifically her skin.
I assume youre gonna leave this off, dont put this shit on the show, you know. But her skin, her skin sucks, okay? he says, according to the transcript. I mean her skin, she needs some serious fuckin dermatology.
<...>
September 30, 2016
For the record, violence is never justified. Using violence in politics is a tactic that fascists use.
Man with Trump cap trolls protesters, only to get attacked
For the record, violence is never justified. Using violence in politics is a tactic that fascists use.
September 30, 2016
<...>
DH: It used to be everybody thought they were middle class.
RJ: I think that even for Democrats when there's a lot of rhetoric pitched at the middle class, there's a lot of white working-class Americans that think that just goes right over their heads and doesn't address their needs. This is all part of the big picture understanding that they are not middle class anymoreis the sense that their own power and influencewhether you're talking cultural influence, demographic influenceis really passing from the scene. They are also realizing that they're losing a big part of the next generation as a lot of their children have left town and left the church. Knowing that they're not hanging on to a significant number of the younger generation has heightened this sense of decline.
DH: Let's talk about the millennial tidal wave. Is it going to be enough for the Democrats? I don't want to make you a prognosticator, that is Silvers job. But the millennial generation is huge. They're much more liberal but clearly older people vote at higher levels.
RJ: That's right. That's the real challenge for Democrats. If this race weren't among only registered voters but among the general population, it would be a hands down landslide for Hillary Clinton. Against the backdrop of the demographic changes we are experiencing, the ballot box functions as a kind of time machine that, every election cycle, takes the demographics back to where they were a decade ago. In other words, there is a temporal lag between changes in the general population and when they show up at the ballot box, mainly because of higher voter registration and turnout rates among older white Christians.
DH: How long is the lag?
RJ: If you do the white Christians as a kind of metric, there are 45 percent white Christians in the country, and if the trend continues this year white Christians will make up 55 percent of the electorate.
DH: Maybe more so in Pennsylvania and Ohio?
RJ: Interestingly the declines we see among white Christians at the national level have been pretty consistent even if you look at Pennsylvania and Ohio, or at states such as North Carolina that have more recently become battleground states. The elements that are driving the decline are fairly consistent across states. On the one hand, young whites are disaffiliating from Christian churches. On the other hand, it's demographic changes such as Latino immigration and lower birth rates among whites.
Using the proportion of the country that identifies as white and Christian is a good metric of demographic and cultural change. Today, there is a 10 percentage point difference between the proportion of white Christians in the general population, 45 percent, and what we project to be the composition of the electorate in 2016, 55 percent. If the trends continue, it'll be 2024two election cycles from nowbefore the electorate looks like the general population today.
DH: Wow, 2024.
RJ: Even with this temporal lag, I argue in my book that Mitt Romney's campaign was the last one that could depend on a white Christian strategypiling up super majorities of white Christian voters to offset the growing demographics.
DH: It didn't work.
RJ: No. It didn't work for Romney. He basically hit all his marks. He got as many evangelical votes as George W. Bush did. Turn out rate wasn't suppressed and he still lost. Trump looks like he's doubling down on that failed strategy so we'll have a real test case of the viability of that strategy on our hands.
<...>
The End of White Christian America and Trump's Desperate Promises to Save It
http://www.alternet.org/books/end-white-christian-america-and-trumps-desperate-promises-save-it<...>
DH: It used to be everybody thought they were middle class.
RJ: I think that even for Democrats when there's a lot of rhetoric pitched at the middle class, there's a lot of white working-class Americans that think that just goes right over their heads and doesn't address their needs. This is all part of the big picture understanding that they are not middle class anymoreis the sense that their own power and influencewhether you're talking cultural influence, demographic influenceis really passing from the scene. They are also realizing that they're losing a big part of the next generation as a lot of their children have left town and left the church. Knowing that they're not hanging on to a significant number of the younger generation has heightened this sense of decline.
DH: Let's talk about the millennial tidal wave. Is it going to be enough for the Democrats? I don't want to make you a prognosticator, that is Silvers job. But the millennial generation is huge. They're much more liberal but clearly older people vote at higher levels.
RJ: That's right. That's the real challenge for Democrats. If this race weren't among only registered voters but among the general population, it would be a hands down landslide for Hillary Clinton. Against the backdrop of the demographic changes we are experiencing, the ballot box functions as a kind of time machine that, every election cycle, takes the demographics back to where they were a decade ago. In other words, there is a temporal lag between changes in the general population and when they show up at the ballot box, mainly because of higher voter registration and turnout rates among older white Christians.
DH: How long is the lag?
RJ: If you do the white Christians as a kind of metric, there are 45 percent white Christians in the country, and if the trend continues this year white Christians will make up 55 percent of the electorate.
DH: Maybe more so in Pennsylvania and Ohio?
RJ: Interestingly the declines we see among white Christians at the national level have been pretty consistent even if you look at Pennsylvania and Ohio, or at states such as North Carolina that have more recently become battleground states. The elements that are driving the decline are fairly consistent across states. On the one hand, young whites are disaffiliating from Christian churches. On the other hand, it's demographic changes such as Latino immigration and lower birth rates among whites.
Using the proportion of the country that identifies as white and Christian is a good metric of demographic and cultural change. Today, there is a 10 percentage point difference between the proportion of white Christians in the general population, 45 percent, and what we project to be the composition of the electorate in 2016, 55 percent. If the trends continue, it'll be 2024two election cycles from nowbefore the electorate looks like the general population today.
DH: Wow, 2024.
RJ: Even with this temporal lag, I argue in my book that Mitt Romney's campaign was the last one that could depend on a white Christian strategypiling up super majorities of white Christian voters to offset the growing demographics.
DH: It didn't work.
RJ: No. It didn't work for Romney. He basically hit all his marks. He got as many evangelical votes as George W. Bush did. Turn out rate wasn't suppressed and he still lost. Trump looks like he's doubling down on that failed strategy so we'll have a real test case of the viability of that strategy on our hands.
<...>
September 29, 2016
<...>
For 20 years Ive been saying how its not true that talk radio is all about ratings and we dont believe what we say, he went on. Then you watch how the media types rolled over for him. Obviously Donald Trump is very good for ratings, and at some point its hard not to conclude they decided the Trump train was the gravy train. Ive been thoroughly disillusioned, and Im not alone in that. Its like watching Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Oh, my God, they got another one!
When Trump declared his candidacy in June 2015, the part of his announcement speech that most clearly foreshadowed the campaign to come had to do with immigration. When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best, he told the crowd at Trump Tower. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems, and theyre bringing those problems with us. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists.
The line struck Sykes as awfully familiar when he heard it. A month before, he had run a segment with Ann Coulter, who had just published her 10th book, an anti-immigration screed titled ¡Adios, America! Sykes was well aware of Coulters views, but he was taken aback when she began a riff on Mexican rapists surging into the United States (a subject that takes up an entire chapter of ¡Adios, America!). I remember looking at my producer and going, Wow, this is rather extraordinary,? he told me. When Trump used that line, I instantly recognized it as Ann Coulters.
In fact, Corey Lewandowski had reached out to Coulter for advice in the run-up to Trumps announcement speech. The address Trump delivered on June 16 bore no resemblance to his prepared text, which contained a mere two sentences about immigration. Instead, he ad-libbed what Coulter today calls the Mexican rapist speech that won my heart. When Trumps remarks provoked fury, Lewandowski called Coulter for backup. Three days later, she went on HBOs Real Time With Bill Maher and, amid shrieks of laughter from the audience, predicted that Trump was the Republican candidate most likely to win the presidency.
One evening this past March, Trump received Coulter at Mar-a-Lago. Though in recent years the two had developed a rapport on Twitter, she had met him face to face only once before he declared his candidacy, a lunch date at Trump Tower in 2011. Over lunch, Trump gave Coulter the impression that he had read her books. He also gave her a few items from his wifes line of costume jewelry and told Coulter, who keeps a house in Palm Beach, that she was welcome to use the pool at Mar-a-Lago anytime.
<...>
__________________________________________________________________
When I watched this debate between Cenk Uyger of The Young Turks and Ann Coulter a few months ago, I said "Ah ha!", THAT'S where Trump has been getting all of this racist drivel about Mexican rapists planted in his head.
How Donald Trump Set Off a Civil War Within the Right-Wing Media
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/02/magazine/how-donald-trump-set-off-a-civil-war-within-the-right-wing-media.html<...>
For 20 years Ive been saying how its not true that talk radio is all about ratings and we dont believe what we say, he went on. Then you watch how the media types rolled over for him. Obviously Donald Trump is very good for ratings, and at some point its hard not to conclude they decided the Trump train was the gravy train. Ive been thoroughly disillusioned, and Im not alone in that. Its like watching Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Oh, my God, they got another one!
When Trump declared his candidacy in June 2015, the part of his announcement speech that most clearly foreshadowed the campaign to come had to do with immigration. When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best, he told the crowd at Trump Tower. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems, and theyre bringing those problems with us. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists.
The line struck Sykes as awfully familiar when he heard it. A month before, he had run a segment with Ann Coulter, who had just published her 10th book, an anti-immigration screed titled ¡Adios, America! Sykes was well aware of Coulters views, but he was taken aback when she began a riff on Mexican rapists surging into the United States (a subject that takes up an entire chapter of ¡Adios, America!). I remember looking at my producer and going, Wow, this is rather extraordinary,? he told me. When Trump used that line, I instantly recognized it as Ann Coulters.
In fact, Corey Lewandowski had reached out to Coulter for advice in the run-up to Trumps announcement speech. The address Trump delivered on June 16 bore no resemblance to his prepared text, which contained a mere two sentences about immigration. Instead, he ad-libbed what Coulter today calls the Mexican rapist speech that won my heart. When Trumps remarks provoked fury, Lewandowski called Coulter for backup. Three days later, she went on HBOs Real Time With Bill Maher and, amid shrieks of laughter from the audience, predicted that Trump was the Republican candidate most likely to win the presidency.
One evening this past March, Trump received Coulter at Mar-a-Lago. Though in recent years the two had developed a rapport on Twitter, she had met him face to face only once before he declared his candidacy, a lunch date at Trump Tower in 2011. Over lunch, Trump gave Coulter the impression that he had read her books. He also gave her a few items from his wifes line of costume jewelry and told Coulter, who keeps a house in Palm Beach, that she was welcome to use the pool at Mar-a-Lago anytime.
<...>
__________________________________________________________________
When I watched this debate between Cenk Uyger of The Young Turks and Ann Coulter a few months ago, I said "Ah ha!", THAT'S where Trump has been getting all of this racist drivel about Mexican rapists planted in his head.
Profile Information
Name: ChristoGender: Male
Hometown: Santa Cruz, CA, USA
Home country: USA
Current location: Santa Cruz, CA
Member since: Thu Aug 31, 2006, 04:14 AM
Number of posts: 3,855