12 thoughts on “Friday Open Thread”

1. The human species–smart enough to develop the instruments of its own demise, but not smart enough to stop it. 

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2. Trump on the other hand has an obligation to make sense to the majority of American voters and is failing badly at it.

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3. Trump has made more than 100 threats to prosecute or punish perceived enemies

   The closer it gets to the election the angrier I get that anyone could vote for Trump for any office, especially President.

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4. WaPo devotes a news item to documenting Trump-babble.

   How Trump talks: Abrupt shifts, profane insults, confusing sentences

   For example, after his recent stint as a fry cook, he doesn't remember what device is used to make french fries (hint:  it's called a fryer)

   “Those french fries were good,” he said. “They were good. They were right out of the uh, they were right out of whatever the hell they make them out of.”

   But that is just one of dozens of examples of his confusion and incoherence.

   Asked on Oct. 7 how he would advise Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to Israel, Trump repeatedly interrupted himself without finishing or explaining his thoughts. He also referred ambiguously to “the nuclear people.”

   No, I said don’t hit the nuclear. Did you ever hear of anyone say don’t hit, he says don’t hit the nuclear. They asked him the other day would you hit, well, I don’t think you should hit the nuclear. I thought it was the opposite, okay? I sort of thought it was the opposite. The nuclear is the biggest single problem the world has. Not global warming, where the ocean will rise 1/8th of an inch in the next 500 years. You know, these people are crazy. The biggest problem we have is nuclear warming, not global warming. And the nuclear people can’t have the nuclear. The nuclear is the power.”

   — Oct. 7 interview with Hugh Hewitt

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   1. WaPo deserves brownie points for running that article, but it's not making a fricking endorsement in the race. Neither is the LA Times. Unconscionable derilection of duty. But at least the Philly Inquirer came through with a strong and clear illustration of what's at stake, which might be OK because we need Pennsylvania.

      Do we still believe in the founders’ goal to form a more perfect union? Do voters still support the Constitution, the rule of law, and the peaceful transfer of power?

      Can we really be proud of a president who is a convicted criminal, insurrectionist, tax dodger, sexual harasser, serial liar, and Russian sympathizer?

      Can we tell our children we voted for a president who, when the angry mob stormed the Capitol looking to hang the vice president, said, “So what?”

      America deserves much more than an aspiring autocrat who ignores the law, is running to stay out of prison, and doesn’t care about anyone but himself.

      The better angels of our nature demand it.

      There is only one candidate — Kamala Harris — who will preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States from foreign and domestic enemies.

      So help us, God.

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      1. Yep, I was just about to post about the LA Times Editorial Editor's resignation in disgust, and the announcement in the NYTimes that WaPo is also declining to endorse anyone.  What do those two papers have in common?

         Frederick Deknatel, executive editor of the journal Democracy in Exile, added that "in case there was still any doubt, billionaire owners are not the saviors of journalism."

         This is not the sign of a healthy news media.  I have my concerns about papers owned by vulture capitalists as well.

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      2. I just canceled my long term subscription to the WaPo. Just inexcusable for them to refuse to endorse Harris. I hope many others do the same.

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         1. Good call, realist. I'll do the same.

            Wapo has included a link to write a letter to the editor. https://thewashingtonpost.formstack.com/forms/submit_a_letter_to_the_editor
            FWIW, John Lewis, the editor, blames Jeff Bezos, the owner, for the decision.

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            1. That's half-weird and half M.O. Tr*mp has said some horrible things about Bezos, but Bezos would sleep with the rotting corpse of a half-eaten gazelle in the Sahara for a tax break.

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         2. Reading comments, the large number of people canceling include many screen names I recognize from their frequent contributions.  I'm hoping there will be a leak from the business side of the institution explaining how many cancellations occurred between 10/24 and a couple of days after the election.  I've not yet pulled the trigger, but I'm leaning against renewing my subscription when it expires.

            17 Post Opinions columnists I regularly read signed a statement "The newspaper’s refusal to endorse a presidential candidate is a mistake." It will be enlightening to read how many choose to leave and employ their talents elsewhere.

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   2. [SMH]

      Sad times.  They just don't make stable geniuses like they used to anymore.

       

       

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5. While billionaire media moguls, probably due to cynical self-interest, demonstrate their political cowardice in directing their editorial boards to not endorse Kamala Harris, former Trump administration officials show no such reluctance.

   Ex-Trump aides emerge to back Kelly’s harsh warnings

   The letter from former White House officials comes as Harris is leaning into her closing argument that Trump is a threat to democracy.

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