Tuesday, September 17, 2024

The 2024 Election, Part XXV. The GOP yells "get off my lawn" edition.

 

The Harris/Trump debate took place last night.  I missed the first 45 or so minutes.

I don't know what happened in that time frame, but in the part I saw, watching Donald Trump was like watching a racoon on crack.

Even Fox News declared Harris the "clear" winner, while whining about ABC moderators fact checking "everything" Trump said. Given that Trump is a massive liar, the fact that they did fact check was a public service.

One newscaster, post debate, stated that it was like watching "an old man yelling at clouds", which apparently is a reference to an episode of the Simpsons.  Apparently Simpson meme's went wild after Trump repeated the J. D. Vance bizarre canard about immigrants stealing pets for food (completely untrue).  Trump specifically stated:

In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating – they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.

The claim was immediately debunked by moderator David Muir, but people were quick to pick up on it.

 

And even as the newscaster made the yelling at clouds comment (and also mocked "get off my law") the memes were flying.


A rational party, which the GOP no longer is, would sideline this candidate.  The problem now is, however, that as J. D. Vance went out on a limb and admitted he would have acted illegally in regard to the bogus election claims, he's unfit for office and there's nobody to go to.

Whether it really matters or not is another matter, but post debate Taylor Swift endorsed Harris.

Wyoming's Congressional delegation declared Trump the winner of the debate, which was predictable.  Seriously, however,. if even Fox News states that Harris was clearly the winner . . . 

September 12, 2024

Trump found Taylor Swift coming out against him, citing herself as a "childless cat lady", two days ago.  Now Linda Ronstadt has:


Stevie Nicks (whose music I can't stand) has also done so, citing herself as a "childless dog lady".

J. D. Vance has proven to be the gift that just keeps giving to the Harris campaign, given the numerous and provocative statements he's made.  He also has been due to philosophical stances he's taken, which is another topic.  At any rate, trends in regard to Trump aren't favorable to him, even if he should be successful in the election.

September 13, 2024

Trump on the leader of the Taliban in a press conference this week: 

He called me 'Your Excellency.' I wonder if he calls that to Biden. I doubt it.

There's something really bizarre about Trump.  Being called "your excellency" apparently really matters to him, so much that he thinks being called that by the Taliban is nifty.

That's weird.

Something to consider on his odd behavior:

Trump's speech and cognitive concerns.

In psychiatry, the tendency to conspicuously and rigidly repeat a thought beyond the point of relevance, called “perseverance,” is known to be correlated with a variety of clinical disorders, including those involving a loss of cognitive reserve. People tend to stick to familiar topics over and over when they experience an impairment in cognitive functioning—for instance, in short-term memory. Short-term memory is essentially your mental sketch pad: how many different thoughts you can juggle in your mind, keep track of, and use at the same time. Given the complexity of being president, short-term memory is a vital skill.

If a patient presented to me with the verbal incoherence, tangential thinking, and repetitive speech that Trump now regularly demonstrates, I would almost certainly refer them for a rigorous neuropsychiatric evaluation to rule out a cognitive illness. A condition such as vascular dementia or Alzheimer’s disease would not be out of the ordinary for a 78-year-old. Only careful medical examination can establish whether someone indeed has a diagnosable illness—simply observing Trump, or anyone else, from afar is not enough. For those who do have such diseases or conditions, several treatments and services exist to help them and their loved ones cope with their decline. But that does not mean any of them would be qualified to serve as commander in chief.

 Richard A. Friedman, a psychiatrist, in The Atlantic.

September 14, 2024

Both are against life, be it the one who kicks out migrants or the one who (supports) killing babies Both are against life.

Pope Francis on Harris and Trump. 

The Pope counselled to "choose the lesser evil".  If you live in a state, however, that's going overwhelmingly for one candidate or another, you don't actually have to, and can vote for a third party like The American Solidarity Party.

Laura Loomer, about whom I know nothing, but who is apparently an extreme right wing personality, has been traveling around with Trump.  He's now criticizing her but she's been seen a lot with her including some photos in which they are uncomfortably close.  Trump has a knack for appearing with embarrassing people.

In a campaign speech over the last couple of days Trump promised the largest mass deportation in history, starting in Springfield Ohio and Colorado.

September 15, 2024

Penultimate conservative George F. Will endorsed Kamala Harris.

September 16, 2024

A second assassination attempt on Donald Trump occurred yesterday.  In this instance, the Secret Service spotted the would be assailant before he staged his attempt and opened fire first.

The assailant was Ryan Wesley Routh, who had been convicted in 2002 for possessing a machine gun. He used that weapon in a stand off with the police.  How he had a AK47 type rifle in this instance is an obvious question.  Based on news reports of his social media, he at one time claimed he was going to go to Ukraine and fight (he clearly didn't), and he had pro Palestinian and anti Chinese posts as well.

cont:

Trump and Canada's big water faucet:  Canada Has A Big Water Faucet.

What the crap?

September 17, 2024

Scientific American endorsed Kamala Harris.

Related threads:

Does a "Freedom" Caucus victory in the primaries mean the Democrats have a chance in the general?

Last edition

The 2024 Election, Part XXVI. Touching Down

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