Hitler doted on his Alsatian Shepherd, Blondi. (They had to keep her away from Eva Braun's Scottish terrier, though.) Trump may have no affinity or affection for dogs, but he has enough of a political lizard brain to know that what Noem did cannot be justified and is politically toxic, full stop. Apparently he's obsessed with this story, thinks Noem is an idiot and can't stop talking about it, doubtless enjoying the Schadenfreude of a GOP star other than he in the, uhh, doghouse. So it's safe to say that Kristi's dreams of VPhood are officially dead and bleeding out in the gravel pit of despair.
Reactionary ideologies, fascism, right-wing populism, paleoconservatism, work by drawing oneself within a charmed circle: the family, the tribe, the nation. National Socialism was a species of socialism before the Night of the Long Knives and the purging of the Strasser bros. Welfare chauvinism promises full governmental support for all those not interlopers. And of course there's all that Sturm und Drang about making the world safe for white women and children. All those within the circle.
Kristi Noem is working within this paradigm by attempting to otherize Cricket, as if she were the doggie version of a RINO. But there can be no betrayal if the dog was only following the prey drive instincts she was bred to have. Cricket was a Bad Dog from the beginning says Kristi, had a reputation as too aggressive and Kristi re-homed her to give her a second chance. That, of course, only makes Noem look worse; if she already knew the warning signs, she never should have had that dog out on a hunt (pheasant killing, GOOD; chicken killing, BAD) before booking some intensive training. The undocumented nanny who turns out is a serial killer that murders your children and you can turn around and blame that on her being undocumented, not that you didn't vet her properly.
Thing is, you can't otherize family members and dogs, not least including fiercely loyal hunting dogs, are family members and not just working dogs. A parent would sooner turn state's evidence in a murder trial of their child than shoot them in the face. The only remaining question is if this blowback will become so fierce it will drive Kristi Noem out of politics entirely and not simply off Trump's ticket.
Here's another observation. While this very well might be Corey Lewandowski trying to sell abject cruelty as the ultimate VP attribute (and to get the disgraced thug back into the coven), the gravel pit executions were witnessed by a construction crew on Noem's property who all stopped to watch. I don't know if any of them have spoken out recently, but Olbermann says that at the time, they said she was in a blind rage with both animals. So since this would come out during VP vetting, Kristi may have wanted to get ahead of the story and this is the _sanitized version_ she's telling in the book. Yikes.
I think Kristi has gone a little nuts. That medical tourism ad for the Texas cosmetic dentistry office may have gotten her in trouble because she didn't disclose her financial relationship as a promoter. But why the full screen mouth shots? Why doesn't she notice how straight out of an SNL sketch this is?
I used to think that Kristi Noem was a frighteningly beautiful woman. Full lips, incredible cheekbones. I don't anymore. Look, I don't begrudge women of a certain age getting a little work done; beauty standards are especially rough on women in the public eye. But then there's the MAGA demand for not just eternal youth but eternal adolescence. Apparently Kristi went to the same place that did Kimberly Guilfoyle and Lara Trump. She looks absolutely hideous now, like when Stephanie Grisham had her lips plumped and she looked so ridiculous she de-plumped them. Her skin is completely stretched back, face expressionless in that botox rictus, lips devoid of any human character, exactly like an evil android designed with the help of brain scans of 17-year-old males. She wrecked herself.
It’s looking like he’s gonna win, with plenty of help from the wack-a-doodle left and Dearborn/anti-Israel crowd. I hear they’re planning a 1968 Democratic Convention Debacle Reunion Tour.
Blinken's working overtime to get some kind of ceasefire/humanitarian aid/hostage release, and if he can pull it off, then the mid-east turmoil can settle down a bit, with some good news headlines (hostage release) and some real bad headlines for Hamas (raped hostages) all of which should take the steam out of these kafafee-wearing protesters. And all of which lowers the heat from the far left on Biden.
Resolution of the Israel- Palestine issue will help in Nov, but I think those kafafee-wearers will hold a grudge. So the whole issue hurts Biden, but with some resolutions it might even help him: international statesman resolving a crisis.
Nope. The conflict isn't within the party like it was in '68. Hell, it's not within the party like it was in 2016.
Biden just got aid to Gazans. Trump would let Jared build luxury highrises on the Mediterranean coast once all those pesky Palestinians were ethnically cleansed away.
Enough people who are concerned about Gaza will recognize that before the election.
Bob, you're assuming that people still vote according to some rational logical understanding of issues; I don't think so, not any more. Now it's pure tribalism: I saw a picture of thousands of red MAGA-hatted Trump faithful gathering for his rally today - these folks are lost in the Trump-cult, He's their tribal leader, He's their Moses who will lead them out of the God-Forsaken America of Biden and the commie-loving Democrats, He will restore America to his faithful white followers. When I saw the huge red-hatted mob at Trump's rally, I thought: no way Biden could draw a crowd like that.
I remember a political cartoon back in the 2016 election: it showed a chanting mob (USA, USA) inside an arena and a sign outside: "check your brain at the door".
The Grand Old Party is now a Gang of Psychos: no, I don't think anyone on the right will "recognize" anything. They're out for blood.
As for the Left, all I see is the requisite coalition increasingly fractioning apart, and 3rd party opportunists benefitting from the breakup. When RFK appeared on Bill Maher's show last week, I was amazed at the crowd's reaction - RFK got huge cheers, welcomed like a conquering hero. And that's in solid Blue country.
And how more shit to fall before November?
But here's my optimistic 5-point plan for victory in November (wishful thinking/prayer/desperate hope)
1. Blinken & Biden somehow get Netanyahu to end the Gaza war, send tons of humanitarian aid, and bring back the hostages - that should chill out this whole campus-protest-chaos (Trump is calling it "Biden's America")
2. Then RFK self-implodes (that's highly possible with psycho foot-in-the-mouth crazies).
3. Trump is convicted on all counts in NY hush money trial and Melania pulls the plug and files for divorce
4. GOP goes all-in on anti-abortion and SCOTUS does more anti-abortion rulings and the WOMEN OF AMERICA get really really pissed off and head to the polls in record numbers
5. Trump drops dead of a heart attack in the middle of a MAGA rally.
If my plan falls into place, then Biden wins by a nose.
Respectfully, Abe, I see some deep flaws in this analysis so allow me to break it down:
1) Don't conflate the MAGA personality cult with the general electorate. These same arguments were made in '20, that Trump crowds had so much energy, look at all the MAGA trucks and Trump flotillas while Biden's campaigning from his basement. And while the Electoral College was close, Joe Biden won the popular vote by 7 million.
1b) Don't interpret the size of a Trump rally as indication of broad support. That's like being awed at the lines outside a Nickelback concert. Nickelback is one of the most legendarily mocked and despised bands in the world, but they still have their following. Trump rallygoers are a separate set of people, like fans of Las Vegas Fat Elvis. It's a show that they've all seen a million times before and they want to hear the hits. But if Trump has such widespread support, ask yourself why the crowd in front of the Manhattan courthouse is so wan. Monday was the biggest turnout and it amounted to a couple dozen people. And Trump put out multiple calls for them.
2) Bill Maher lost his liberal / leftie credentials well over a decade ago. He's besties with Ann Coulter and he's a cynical, contrarian schmuck who long ago stopped being funny. His audience is _exactly_ the kind of audience you'd expect to cheer RFKjr.
3) RFKjr believes, with a straight face, that covid was genetically engineered to kill certain ethnic groups and not others. This madness does not align with a Biden worldview; it aligns with a Trump worldview. Polls are starting to indicate this as news of his positions spread and the veneer of being a Kennedy as his only visible attribute blows off. People are learning that he's been disowned by his entire large extended family who have all endorsed Joe Biden. Trump knows that RFKjr is taking more from him than Biden, which is why he's launched a number of vicious attacks on him. If TrumpCo thought RFKjr was hurting Biden instead, he'd praise RFKjr.
4) I would never expect MAGA personality cultists to "recognize" anything. I was referring to people who have deep concerns with Israel's assaults on Gaza. Many Republicans and people who identify with being on the right certainly _are_ recognizing the danger of Trump. We're posting on one of their flagships.
5) We all can certainly hope and pray for the best, that the war ends and the hostages are released, but it's a fool's errand to rely on this from Bibi and his fragile government. Bibi is Israel's Trump and he's in office to avoid prosecution so he's a cornered rat. His shaky coalition includes ultra-religious parties who are just as genocidal towards Palestinians as the protesters say they are. Biden will have to win -- and will win -- despite how the chips fall here. Our influence is limited.
6) What Biden _can_ run on regarding this tragic situation is the stuff Trump recently said about it. He thinks Israel's "war on terrorism" should be as quick and brutal as possible. These are fighting words for everyone who protested (as I did) the Iraq invasion. Just what we need, more speed, more brutality, more "toughness."
7) Even more critically, Trump attacked Biden for wanting to take in Palestinian refugees, playing the xenophobia card and equating them to Hamas terrorists, calling for a renewed Muslim ban. That may play well to his base, but it will horrify each and every one of those campus protesters. Not all of them will decide to vote for Biden as many of them are hard left and despise Democrats; they didn't vote for Biden the first time. But I think enough of them will when they realize that only Biden has demonstrated any real concern for Palestinians by getting them aid.
In sum, Biden is going to win by more than a nose. I'm by no means complacent; I'll be volunteering for the Democrats when I finish moving in to my new apartment.
But I do feel that the winds are shifting our direction.
So I just gave fiddy bux to the Democrats to help pad their April fundraising numbers.
I'm such a Party man ;)
I have genuine sympathy for Rick, who used to be a Party man himself and no longer gets to feel that way, because it's a good feeling to belong to a political entity you can support in good conscience.
Did she really need a puppy anecdote to demonstrate her ruthlessness? Couldn’t she have just described her Covid response instead?
Not on my last day.
Brilliant
Hitler doted on his Alsatian Shepherd, Blondi. (They had to keep her away from Eva Braun's Scottish terrier, though.) Trump may have no affinity or affection for dogs, but he has enough of a political lizard brain to know that what Noem did cannot be justified and is politically toxic, full stop. Apparently he's obsessed with this story, thinks Noem is an idiot and can't stop talking about it, doubtless enjoying the Schadenfreude of a GOP star other than he in the, uhh, doghouse. So it's safe to say that Kristi's dreams of VPhood are officially dead and bleeding out in the gravel pit of despair.
Reactionary ideologies, fascism, right-wing populism, paleoconservatism, work by drawing oneself within a charmed circle: the family, the tribe, the nation. National Socialism was a species of socialism before the Night of the Long Knives and the purging of the Strasser bros. Welfare chauvinism promises full governmental support for all those not interlopers. And of course there's all that Sturm und Drang about making the world safe for white women and children. All those within the circle.
Kristi Noem is working within this paradigm by attempting to otherize Cricket, as if she were the doggie version of a RINO. But there can be no betrayal if the dog was only following the prey drive instincts she was bred to have. Cricket was a Bad Dog from the beginning says Kristi, had a reputation as too aggressive and Kristi re-homed her to give her a second chance. That, of course, only makes Noem look worse; if she already knew the warning signs, she never should have had that dog out on a hunt (pheasant killing, GOOD; chicken killing, BAD) before booking some intensive training. The undocumented nanny who turns out is a serial killer that murders your children and you can turn around and blame that on her being undocumented, not that you didn't vet her properly.
Thing is, you can't otherize family members and dogs, not least including fiercely loyal hunting dogs, are family members and not just working dogs. A parent would sooner turn state's evidence in a murder trial of their child than shoot them in the face. The only remaining question is if this blowback will become so fierce it will drive Kristi Noem out of politics entirely and not simply off Trump's ticket.
Here's another observation. While this very well might be Corey Lewandowski trying to sell abject cruelty as the ultimate VP attribute (and to get the disgraced thug back into the coven), the gravel pit executions were witnessed by a construction crew on Noem's property who all stopped to watch. I don't know if any of them have spoken out recently, but Olbermann says that at the time, they said she was in a blind rage with both animals. So since this would come out during VP vetting, Kristi may have wanted to get ahead of the story and this is the _sanitized version_ she's telling in the book. Yikes.
I think Kristi has gone a little nuts. That medical tourism ad for the Texas cosmetic dentistry office may have gotten her in trouble because she didn't disclose her financial relationship as a promoter. But why the full screen mouth shots? Why doesn't she notice how straight out of an SNL sketch this is?
I used to think that Kristi Noem was a frighteningly beautiful woman. Full lips, incredible cheekbones. I don't anymore. Look, I don't begrudge women of a certain age getting a little work done; beauty standards are especially rough on women in the public eye. But then there's the MAGA demand for not just eternal youth but eternal adolescence. Apparently Kristi went to the same place that did Kimberly Guilfoyle and Lara Trump. She looks absolutely hideous now, like when Stephanie Grisham had her lips plumped and she looked so ridiculous she de-plumped them. Her skin is completely stretched back, face expressionless in that botox rictus, lips devoid of any human character, exactly like an evil android designed with the help of brain scans of 17-year-old males. She wrecked herself.
Kristi Noem, R (Uncanny Valley).
"the design inspirations of Liberace and Late-era Saddam Palace chic..."
It's so accurate it isn't even satire.
Good for you Doreen. What a disastrous pair Drumph and Desanctomonious would make. Too bad there are laws……… at least there are now.
Well it is a perfect idea Rick. I hope he goes for it.
What a soulless bunch the GOP is today. No more Rockefellers, no more Lincoln’s or Grants, just an empty uneducated group of mean girls and boys.
Oh, Rick, please, please use this as a script for a Lincoln Project video! It’s FANTASTIC! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼💙🌊💙🌊💙🌊💙🌊💙🌊
And he couldn’t tell the difference
Gulp. Here’s the problem Rick.
It’s looking like he’s gonna win, with plenty of help from the wack-a-doodle left and Dearborn/anti-Israel crowd. I hear they’re planning a 1968 Democratic Convention Debacle Reunion Tour.
It’s all Biden needs.
What, me worry?
Blinken's working overtime to get some kind of ceasefire/humanitarian aid/hostage release, and if he can pull it off, then the mid-east turmoil can settle down a bit, with some good news headlines (hostage release) and some real bad headlines for Hamas (raped hostages) all of which should take the steam out of these kafafee-wearing protesters. And all of which lowers the heat from the far left on Biden.
Resolution of the Israel- Palestine issue will help in Nov, but I think those kafafee-wearers will hold a grudge. So the whole issue hurts Biden, but with some resolutions it might even help him: international statesman resolving a crisis.
I hope you’re right. Cheers.
Nope. The conflict isn't within the party like it was in '68. Hell, it's not within the party like it was in 2016.
Biden just got aid to Gazans. Trump would let Jared build luxury highrises on the Mediterranean coast once all those pesky Palestinians were ethnically cleansed away.
Enough people who are concerned about Gaza will recognize that before the election.
Bob, you're assuming that people still vote according to some rational logical understanding of issues; I don't think so, not any more. Now it's pure tribalism: I saw a picture of thousands of red MAGA-hatted Trump faithful gathering for his rally today - these folks are lost in the Trump-cult, He's their tribal leader, He's their Moses who will lead them out of the God-Forsaken America of Biden and the commie-loving Democrats, He will restore America to his faithful white followers. When I saw the huge red-hatted mob at Trump's rally, I thought: no way Biden could draw a crowd like that.
I remember a political cartoon back in the 2016 election: it showed a chanting mob (USA, USA) inside an arena and a sign outside: "check your brain at the door".
The Grand Old Party is now a Gang of Psychos: no, I don't think anyone on the right will "recognize" anything. They're out for blood.
As for the Left, all I see is the requisite coalition increasingly fractioning apart, and 3rd party opportunists benefitting from the breakup. When RFK appeared on Bill Maher's show last week, I was amazed at the crowd's reaction - RFK got huge cheers, welcomed like a conquering hero. And that's in solid Blue country.
And how more shit to fall before November?
But here's my optimistic 5-point plan for victory in November (wishful thinking/prayer/desperate hope)
1. Blinken & Biden somehow get Netanyahu to end the Gaza war, send tons of humanitarian aid, and bring back the hostages - that should chill out this whole campus-protest-chaos (Trump is calling it "Biden's America")
2. Then RFK self-implodes (that's highly possible with psycho foot-in-the-mouth crazies).
3. Trump is convicted on all counts in NY hush money trial and Melania pulls the plug and files for divorce
4. GOP goes all-in on anti-abortion and SCOTUS does more anti-abortion rulings and the WOMEN OF AMERICA get really really pissed off and head to the polls in record numbers
5. Trump drops dead of a heart attack in the middle of a MAGA rally.
If my plan falls into place, then Biden wins by a nose.
If not, then I'll settle for #5.
Respectfully, Abe, I see some deep flaws in this analysis so allow me to break it down:
1) Don't conflate the MAGA personality cult with the general electorate. These same arguments were made in '20, that Trump crowds had so much energy, look at all the MAGA trucks and Trump flotillas while Biden's campaigning from his basement. And while the Electoral College was close, Joe Biden won the popular vote by 7 million.
1b) Don't interpret the size of a Trump rally as indication of broad support. That's like being awed at the lines outside a Nickelback concert. Nickelback is one of the most legendarily mocked and despised bands in the world, but they still have their following. Trump rallygoers are a separate set of people, like fans of Las Vegas Fat Elvis. It's a show that they've all seen a million times before and they want to hear the hits. But if Trump has such widespread support, ask yourself why the crowd in front of the Manhattan courthouse is so wan. Monday was the biggest turnout and it amounted to a couple dozen people. And Trump put out multiple calls for them.
2) Bill Maher lost his liberal / leftie credentials well over a decade ago. He's besties with Ann Coulter and he's a cynical, contrarian schmuck who long ago stopped being funny. His audience is _exactly_ the kind of audience you'd expect to cheer RFKjr.
3) RFKjr believes, with a straight face, that covid was genetically engineered to kill certain ethnic groups and not others. This madness does not align with a Biden worldview; it aligns with a Trump worldview. Polls are starting to indicate this as news of his positions spread and the veneer of being a Kennedy as his only visible attribute blows off. People are learning that he's been disowned by his entire large extended family who have all endorsed Joe Biden. Trump knows that RFKjr is taking more from him than Biden, which is why he's launched a number of vicious attacks on him. If TrumpCo thought RFKjr was hurting Biden instead, he'd praise RFKjr.
4) I would never expect MAGA personality cultists to "recognize" anything. I was referring to people who have deep concerns with Israel's assaults on Gaza. Many Republicans and people who identify with being on the right certainly _are_ recognizing the danger of Trump. We're posting on one of their flagships.
5) We all can certainly hope and pray for the best, that the war ends and the hostages are released, but it's a fool's errand to rely on this from Bibi and his fragile government. Bibi is Israel's Trump and he's in office to avoid prosecution so he's a cornered rat. His shaky coalition includes ultra-religious parties who are just as genocidal towards Palestinians as the protesters say they are. Biden will have to win -- and will win -- despite how the chips fall here. Our influence is limited.
6) What Biden _can_ run on regarding this tragic situation is the stuff Trump recently said about it. He thinks Israel's "war on terrorism" should be as quick and brutal as possible. These are fighting words for everyone who protested (as I did) the Iraq invasion. Just what we need, more speed, more brutality, more "toughness."
7) Even more critically, Trump attacked Biden for wanting to take in Palestinian refugees, playing the xenophobia card and equating them to Hamas terrorists, calling for a renewed Muslim ban. That may play well to his base, but it will horrify each and every one of those campus protesters. Not all of them will decide to vote for Biden as many of them are hard left and despise Democrats; they didn't vote for Biden the first time. But I think enough of them will when they realize that only Biden has demonstrated any real concern for Palestinians by getting them aid.
In sum, Biden is going to win by more than a nose. I'm by no means complacent; I'll be volunteering for the Democrats when I finish moving in to my new apartment.
But I do feel that the winds are shifting our direction.
Amen bro!
So I just gave fiddy bux to the Democrats to help pad their April fundraising numbers.
I'm such a Party man ;)
I have genuine sympathy for Rick, who used to be a Party man himself and no longer gets to feel that way, because it's a good feeling to belong to a political entity you can support in good conscience.
Awww, now Ted Cruz will have to bite the head off a chicken to compete!
Alice Cooper for VP!!
With this kind of writing,I think I'll be able to make it through Election Day. Thank you., Rick.
Hey, lincoln project mentioned on the view today. The ad about the " do not shoot your dog and write about it" good job