Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Trump's Dummkopfs

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  • Rich Lock, in reply to Alfie,

    Is this misogynistic, lying fraud really the best candidate the Republicans can come up with the fill the role of president?

    You saw the other candidates, though? Ben Carson, Ted Cruz....

    The Republicans have been brewing this self-inflicted crisis for a good few years. They reap as they have sown.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Rich Lock,

    They reap as they have sown

    ...and surely Fox TV must be a crime against humanity (and sanity).

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • andin, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    On Nov 8 we
    not in the US
    get to find out how far
    (from what used to be regarded as sane)
    some have wandered

    raglan • Since Mar 2007 • 1891 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to andin,

    The Kool-aid stand opens at 3am…

    to find out how far
    (from what used to be regarded as sane)
    some have wandered

    Looks like a ’Cargo Cult’ may have bedded in as well…

    Over the course of two hours on Tuesday – with the world’s media and bleary-eyed Trump diehards across the United States tuning in – Assange and other WikiLeaks officials railed against “neo-McCarthyist hysteria,” blasted the mainstream press, appealed for donations and plugged their books (“40 per cent off!”).
    But what they didn’t do was provide any new information about Clinton – or about anything else, really…
    …That didn’t go over well with Trump backers who had stayed up through the night, thinking they’d be watching live the unveiling of the death blow to the Clinton campaign.
    Assange, as it turns out, had taken a page from Trump’s own playbook by drawing an audience with a tease, only to leave those tuning in feeling that they’d been tricked.
    InfoWars, the pro-Trump and virulently anti-Clinton media vehicle launched by Texas radio host Alex Jones, had touted the WikiLeaks press conference as “historic” and promised that “the Clintons will be devastated.”
    Before Assange took the stage, Jones – who broadcast through the wee hours of the American morning – told viewers and listeners he was so excited he was worried his heart couldn’t stand it.
    But by the end, Jones realised he’d been played – or in his words, “#wikirolled”.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/84972123/wikileaks-october-surprise-a-flop-as-no-clinton-revelations-revealed

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Alfie,

    Graydon Carter, the editor of Vanity Fair, isn't holding back when expressing his opinion of Donald Trump.

    He is a mad jumble of a man, with a slapdash of a campaign and talking points dredged from the dark corners at the bottom of the Internet. I don’t think he will get to the White House, but just the fact that his carny act has gotten so far along the road will leave the path with a permanent orange stain.

    Bravo, that man.

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Alfie,

    ... will leave the path with a permanent orange stain.

    Navel grazing?
    ;- )

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Graydon Carter, the editor of Vanity Fair, isn’t holding back when expressing his opinion of Donald Trump.

    With all due disrespect, the editor of Vanity Fair sneering at Donald Trump as a tacky “carny act” who “lives off crowd approval” is an irony too far. Conde Nast would have pink-slipped Carter years ago (and shut the magazine down) if there wasn’t a market niche for people who want high society sleaze, celebrity puff pieces and grotesque crime but wouldn’t be caught dead buying a gossip rag in a convenience store. And yes, dear reader, I’m one of them.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    And it's a pretty tacky excuse for a tux he's wearing badly as well.

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    Conde Nast would have pink-slipped Carter years ago (and shut the magazine down) if there wasn’t a market niche for people who want high society sleaze, celebrity puff pieces and grotesque crime but wouldn’t be caught dead buying a gossip rag in a convenience store. And yes, dear reader, I’m one of them.

    So you only read it for the articles...?

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Rich Lock,

    So you only read it for the articles…?

    I certainly don't buy it for the pictures, because when even a confirmed bachelor like me can tell no woman's body looks like that outside Photoshop? Ick...

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Alfie,

    The Republic Party wasted no time in declaring their man Pence the winner of yesterday's VP debate.

    The article read: "The consensus was clear after the dust settled, Mike Pence was the clear winner of yesterday's the debate."

    A second post portrayed Hillary as the loser. Another post pointed out "5 questions Tim Kaine was NOT asked".

    All good. Apart from one, tiny, hardly significant little fact. All of those posts hit the GOP website two hours before the debate had even begun. Whoops! Red faces (appropriately) all round.

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    However they dice it, this is slipping through their fingers, since the candidate's debate. I've been watching Fivethirtyeight's poll of polls and that steep decline from a 44% chance of winning to a current 24% chance for Trump getting it has all been since his bumbling performance. That's not as low as they've got this year (by fivethirtyeight's modelling), but it's not far off.

    Note that these are genuine probability estimates and a one in four chance of getting Trump is still way higher than I'd like to gamble the future of the world on, but it's obviously way better than the near coin toss it was sitting on before Trump didn't even bother to prepare for the debate.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Johnson, in reply to Alfie,

    I listened and thought Kaine did really well. Pence took offence at trying to defend Trump, which was absurd ,but because he had nice hair and didn’t look too aggressive he gets kudos, fuck the fact that most of what he said was complete wacko bullshit. I thought debates were about substance not looking unruffled in the face of intellectual defeat.

    hamilton • Since Mar 2016 • 99 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to Tom Johnson,

    I thought debates were about substance not looking unruffled in the face of intellectual defeat.

    Substance probably counts for a good solid 10%. :-)

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Johnson, in reply to BenWilson,

    That's why they suck. It's not a fun uni debate. This should be moderated to hell and candidates should be given something more dignified than standing by a rectangle, the moderator should know before hand what the candidates records are, save a lot of bullshit. Elegant headwaving and a slow granddad monotone is a nonsense when granddad is just lying through his teeth.

    hamilton • Since Mar 2016 • 99 posts Report Reply

  • simon g,

    I watched the whole debate (God help me) and clearly Pence did win ... but he won against Trump. Republicans who want a conservative must have been torn between hope and despair: hope that they can recover after Trump, despair that they ended up with him.

    The real Republican battle now is between two contrasting labels: the "traitors" who didn't back the nominee, and the "clean hands", untainted by his defeat. Pence did a good job of straddling the two, ready to jump after the election. A refined, smarter Clinton-hate can work for them (alas).

    As for Kaine, he was mostly annoying. Needs to read "1066 and all that": "Wrong and Romantic" versus "Right and Repulsive". Substance is great, but this is television, in Reagan country. Facts, schmacts.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1333 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Johnson, in reply to simon g,

    Well on facts, Kaine won . I understand but I think its time to rethink the conditions in which debate takes place. Kaine just came across as a smart liberal thinker, which seems to be a thing to hide these days, Romney got hauled up on an Obama lie in debate, good to see.

    hamilton • Since Mar 2016 • 99 posts Report Reply

  • simon g, in reply to Tom Johnson,

    The moderator was weak, which didn’t help. But Kaine made the classic politician’s mistake of thinking “People will only know the truth if I tell it, I need to speak more”. Which means interrupting the lie before it has got through to the public.

    Much better to do what Clinton did to Trump – let your opponent dig the hole, let the soundbites stand. Post-debate is far more important than the debate itself, and a bemused “Really?” works better than a recitation of corrections, unheard, unprocessed.

    The Putin section was the classic example. Just say "do you agree with your guy or not?". Not repeating for the hundredth time what Trump said.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1333 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Johnson, in reply to simon g,

    Well he did push Pence to talk to the record of his candidate and Pence just shrugged his shoulders and drifted away from the question. We will have to agree to disagree but I totally agree with your assessment of the us voter, still it doesn’t mean debate can’t be improved, because why not? Everyone who wants to swing their vote deserves better debate than this. They are not all crazy, but probably not inherently political and that’s the goal of debate, to discuss the politics to someone who is new or undecided on their vote. 45 % of america will vote right wing tomorrow because the other side is totally unacceptable so you are really trying to get swing voters and new voters and also to influence congressional and senate elections, it is a good idea done poorly.

    hamilton • Since Mar 2016 • 99 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Johnson,

    Pence on abortion was chilling. To think what that man wants society to look like. Everyday he finds time to go down on his knees. He said that. Devout, by the book of god.

    hamilton • Since Mar 2016 • 99 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to simon g,

    Much better to do what Clinton did to Trump – let your opponent dig the hole, let the soundbites stand.

    Generally this is not a strategy that works. But with Trump, it seems to. Which makes sense. Because his rise is an inversion of standard political wisdom, his fall probably will be too.

    The more the general public hears Trump, the less they like him. Mostly he wins as an abstract idea and a couple of soundbites. Under sustained examination (which for me starts to really grate at around the 2-3 minute point, by which any reasonable speaker has delivered at least one cogent actual point), he breaks down into an incomprehensible rambling buffoon. Let him speak. Push his buttons and he does not have the self control to stop. Like Joseph McCarthy, eventually people just stop listening to him. The stupid burns too much.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Johnson, in reply to BenWilson,

    He is very bad at debating. Never really had to.

    hamilton • Since Mar 2016 • 99 posts Report Reply

  • Rob S, in reply to simon g,

    I think Kaine got what Hillary's comms team wanted. He probably did come on too strong as an attack dog but hey, it's only the VP's debate.
    They've turned Pence into a liar with his own words and dig at Trump at the same time.
    To me this looks like a play from the start.

    Since Apr 2010 • 136 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Johnson, in reply to Rob S,

    Absolutely the strategy. Joe Biden slammed Ryan with interruptions but they were just quick slick factual rebutals, but Joe Biden is a fantastic debater. Kaine got a lot of wtf moments that will be played out on news and social media for a while, still if Kaine didn't win that debate I think you aren't weighing ideas fairly, and if you thought Pence was nice, then Jesus, you are a sucker.

    hamilton • Since Mar 2016 • 99 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to simon g,

    But Kaine made the classic politician’s mistake of thinking “People will only know the truth if I tell it, I need to speak more”.

    On Full Frontal tonight, I think Samatha Bee made an excellent point: Kaine spent way too much time reminding us all what we already know about Trump, and not enough about what too many people don't about boiling cess pit of far-right bigotry and dubious economic stewardship hiding in plain sight in Indiana. This really matters more than usual, because he's going to be setting the agenda of a Trump Administration when the President's too tired after a long night of fatslut-shaming Tweets.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

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