Hullabaloo

Thursday, July 21, 2016

 
Murdoch Replacing Ailes at Fox Lets Him Hide, Settle and Seal Lawsuits

By Spocko

The temporary replacement of Roger Ailes by Rupert Murdoch as CEO and Chairman of Fox News is designed to calm shareholders and viewers, but it is also a strategy to shut down exposing information from the Gretchen Carlson sexual harrassment lawsuit and any other lawsuits that might spring up.

News Corporation International has a history of covering up internal dirty dealings in the UK. And the way they went about it there is very similar to what we are seeing now here.

First they hired an outside law firm, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, to investigate the allegations. When non-lawyers like me hear a company is hiring a law firm for an internal investigation we might think, "Well, good for them, maybe they will weed out all the bad apples!"

But that is not really what those firms are hired for. The are usually hired to manage or head off future lawsuits. Their job is to figure out if anyone is lying about what happened, and if not, then it becomes a CYA "How can we minimize the liability?" issue.

During the hacking scandle News International hired a law firm, Harbottle and Lewis, to do an internal investigation at News of the World regarding the practice of paying for hacks of phones and computers of celebrities, politicians and royalty. I read about this in a great book called Dial M for Murdoch. I hosted a Book Salon at FireDogLake with one of the authors, Martin Hickman.

It turns out that the law firm didn't actually do a thorough investigation on the hacking, they just looked at one person. During that investigation that person referred to many others who either knew about or participated in the hacking. This person was later set up by News International as the scapegoat.

A version of the email was edited by News International before it was turned over to regulators to make it appear that there was only one person, the scapegoat, who was using services for hacking phones and computers.

It wasn't until the investigating law firm was allowed to turn over the emails found in the internal investigation that the government regulators found out how wide spread the hacking was. (Note the words allowed, vs. compelled and government regulators vs. government rubber stampers.)

This is what News Corp execs are doing now:  They started an "internal investigation" to find out who knows what and are looking to find and possibly lock up evidence for future cases.

Rupert Murdoch stepping in as Fox News CEO/Chairman, rather than one of Ailes underlings, lets him decide to not investigate Ailes further. He also can decide not to look into other cases of sexual harassment in the company.  Finally, he can sign off on settlements without having to answer to the parent company's concerns about the costs.

Hide, Settle and Seal: The Stop, Drop and Roll of Lawsuits

As part of any settlements Murdoch's lawyers will seek to have the cases sealed with agreed upon non-disparagement clauses included by all participants.

These lawsuits against Ailes were/are a huge opportunity for discovery, that is why Fox agreed to pay for Ailes' legal fees. They need the most powerful lawyers they have to help prevent other dirt from getting out.

I believe that Murdoch learned from his last experience, he can't shut down Fox News like he did News of the World. But he can shut down, settle and seal any lawsuits that come up. Then he will set up "sexual harassment awareness training sessions" which focus mostly on legal liability (These have been shown to be ineffective, since they don't deal with changing the workplace culture already in place.)

Celebrities In the Press And Women In the Workplace

During the News of the World hacking scandal it became clear that earlier stories of celebrities' privacy being breached didn't get a lot of sympathy from the public.

Illegal hacking and privacy breaches had been going on for years at News of the World. Hugh Grant had the money to pay a lawyer to sue them. During the discovery process some damning information about other nasty acts at News Of the World were found, but they couldn't easily be shared with the media.

It took the revelation an operative working for a tabloid who hacked into the voicemail box of a kidnapped girl to really piss people off. Because this interfered with an active kidnapping case (later murder investigation) the police and politicians got involved. The problem was some of the police were aiding the hackers.

Most politicians were afraid to get involved because of Murdoch's history of using his papers to attack and smear anyone who got in his way.

One thing I noted when rereading the story of the hacking scandal was the attitude toward celebrity privacy then and celebrity sexual harassment now.

"Hugh Grant wanted to be a celebrity and giving up your privacy is just part of the price of fame. He knew what he was getting into. If he didn't like it he should have quit making movies." 

 "Gretchen Carlson wanted to be a news reader and chose to work for Fox News. She knew what she was getting into. If she didn't like it, she should have left."

What the Grant lawsuit did, and what I believe the Carlson lawsuit could do, is open a window into the Fox News organization and reveal the extent of their wrong doings.

When your opponent is drowning...

My plan to weaken right wing media was to reduce their revenue. I've found that when something costs a company money, they take steps to change things. If they don't, then they have to eat the costs of maintaining the status quo.

Costing corporations money can force change when other methods can't. Especially when an old attitude, like sexism, doesn't make money like it used to.

The number of normal corporations advertising on right wing radio has changed dramatically since I started alerting advertisers to the violent rhetoric on KSFO in 2005. There is still sexism, bigotry and violent rhetoric on right wing talk radio, but people aren't getting as rich off of it as before.

The distributors of right wing radio no longer get the 100's of millions of dollars from selling ads on the Rush Limbaugh show because it is no longer safe to advertise on the Limbaugh show.

If I was part of group looking to reform the media, I would start looking into the details and participants in any lawsuits filed right now, before Murdoch's money shuts them up. There might even be some people who don't care about the money, but are sick and tired of being treated as a sexual object in the workplace. Maybe they are mad as hell and don't want to take it anymore.

And, if I wanted to make the story bigger, I'd look for stories of politicians who were witnesses--or participants--in sexual harassment at Fox News.

I'm sure all the Republican guests were perfect gentlemen when they came to the studio.  If only someone had documented what happened in an email, or had video...

That might make for some interesting stories during this election season.

Spocko 7/21/2016 06:05:00 PM

 
Another one bails

by digby

Daniel Pipes:

The Republican Party nominated Donald Trump as its candidate for president of the United States - and I responded by ending my 44-year GOP membership.

Here's why I bailed, quit, and jumped ship:

First, Trump's boorish, selfish, puerile, and repulsive character, combined with his prideful ignorance, his off-the-cuff policy making, and his neo-fascistic tendencies make him the most divisive and scary of any serious presidential candidate in American history. He is precisely "the man the founders feared," in Peter Wehner's memorable phrase. I want to be no part of this.

Second, his flip-flopping on the issues ("everything is negotiable") means that, as president, he has the mandate to do any damn thing he wants. This unprecedented and terrifying prospect could mean suing unfriendly reporters or bulldozing a recalcitrant Congress. It could also mean martial law. Count me out.

Third, with honorable exceptions, I wish to distance myself from a Republican Party establishment that made its peace with Trump to the point that it unfairly repressed elements at the national convention in Cleveland that still tried to resist his nomination. Yes, politicians and donors must focus on immediate issues (Supreme Court justice appointments) but party leaders like GOP committee chairman Reince Priebus, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wrongly acquiesced to Trump. As columnist Michael Gerson wryly notes, Trump "attacked the Republican establishment as low-energy, cowering weaklings. Now Republican leaders are lining up to surrender to him - like low-energy, cowering weaklings."

Fourth, the conservative movement, to which I belong, has developed since the 1950s into a major intellectual force. It did so by building on several key ideas (limited government, a moral order, and a foreign policy reflecting American interests and values). But the cultural abyss and constitutional nightmare of a Trump presidency will likely destroy this delicate creation. Ironically, although a Hillary Clinton presidency threatens bad Supreme Court justices, it would leave the conservative movement intact.

Finally, Trump is "an ignorant, amoral, dishonest and manipulative, misogynistic, philandering, hyper-litigious, isolationist, protectionist blowhard" in the words of Republican donor Michael K. Vlock. That charming list of qualities means supporting Trump translates into never again being able to criticize a Democrat on the basis of character. Or, in personal terms: How can one look at oneself in the mirror?

And so, with Trump's formal nomination, I bailed.

For the Republican Party to recover its soul, Trump needs to be thumped in November. Purged of his influence, the party of Lincoln and Reagan can rebuild.

In the meantime, I shall support other Republican candidates, notably Pennsylvania's excellent Sen. Pat Toomey. As for president? Either the libertarian Gary Johnson, a write-in candidate, or no one at all.

Daniel Pipes has served in five presidential administrations

digby 7/21/2016 04:30:00 PM

 
Anticipating the pivot (again)

by digby

Paul Waldman makes an important request of the news media in advance of Trumps speech tonight that will undoubtedly fall on deaf ears:

I beseech everyone, particularly my colleagues in the media: Can we please not grade Trump on a curve?

If there’s something he does or says that’s worthy of praise — a truly compelling new argument for his candidacy, a rhetorical flourish that brings a tear to the eye of every viewer, a newfound eloquence — then by all means give it the tribute it deserves. But let’s not forget that simply reading a speech off a teleprompter is not in and of itself a praiseworthy accomplishment.

It’s a little hard to know what in particular to expect from Trump’s address, because unlike many presidential candidates, he didn’t have a standard stump speech that he delivered with only minor variations time and again on the campaign trail. Instead, Trump would get up before crowds and free-associate, rambling on about whatever popped into his mind, though a big chunk of every speech was taken up with reciting his terrific poll numbers and his fantastic results in previous primaries, lest anyone forget how great he was doing and how much everyone loved him. While there were often exciting moments — telling supporters to beat up a protester, mocking a disabled reporter, tossing out his latest bit of xenophobic fear-mongering — those covering the events regularly reported how boring the speeches were; at about the 45-minute mark, attendees who had waited on line for hours to get in often started drifting away.

In part because his events generally showcase a bizarre combination of tedium and brownshirt rally, on the few occasions where Trump has delivered a prepared speech, pundits acted as though he were an eight-year-old giving his first clarinet recital. It barely mattered what it actually contained; he was lauded for getting all the way through it without doing anything shocking or offensive. Look at how “disciplined” he’s become! He stuck to the script! There were no insults thrown at minority groups! This new Trump really looks presidential!

Yeah, well good luck with that:

Breaking: Trump's acceptance speech written in part by GW Bush speechwriters Matthew Scully &John McConnell. Source says it's "presidential"

— Jonathan Alter (@jonathanalter) July 21, 2016

It's hopeless. On the other hand, we know that Melania Trump's speech was written by the same duo and she allegedly threw it out. Does anyone think Trump wouldn't do the same thing?

He will almost certainly be unable to resist doing some call and response on the The Wall. I'm just curious to see if he inspires some "lock her up" chants.  I think there's a pretty good chance he will.

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digby 7/21/2016 03:00:00 PM

 
Who does Trump blame for his financial woes in Atlantic City?

by digby

It sure sounds like the kind of thing that creepy wingnut blowhard at the end of the bar would say. And Trump is that guy:

“I’ve got black accountants at Trump Castle and at Trump Plaza — black guys counting my money!” O’Donnell’s book quoted Trump as saying. “I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day. Those are the kind of people I want counting my money. Nobody else. . . . Besides that, I’ve got to tell you something else. I think that the guy is lazy. And it’s probably not his fault because laziness is a trait in blacks. It really is; I believe that. It’s not anything they can control.”

Trump says he hasn't read the book but when asked about it he told Playboy magazine that O’Donnell’s memoir was “probably true.”

Of course it is.

More examples here.

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digby 7/21/2016 01:30:00 PM

 
This is for my girls

by digby

This is just the tonic you need today:



She really has been the best first mom.  It's so great that she had teen-age daughters during her time in the White House. It kept her so grounded and accessible, and the country needed it so much during this time.

She was treated like dirt by the right wing, of course, with vile despicable racism piled on to the usual sexism. But she handled it so well. I will miss her.

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digby 7/21/2016 12:00:00 PM

 
Trump is showing the world that the US is unstable

by digby

This story about Trump and NATO is truly something.

Wednesday night, Donald Trump said something that made a nuclear war between the United States and Russia more likely. With a few thoughtless words, he made World War III — the deaths of hundreds of millions of people in nuclear holocaust — plausible.

This probably scans like hyperbole, the kind of thing you hear a lot in politics. I assure you, it’s not. Not this time.

What Trump said, in an interview published by the New York Times, is that he wouldn’t necessarily defend the United States’ allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) if they were attacked by a foreign power. This extended, Trump said, to the Baltic countries right on Russia’s border — countries Russia might conceivably invade.

The NATO alliance is the key deterrent against this: It is founded on a promise that an attack on one NATO country is an attack on all. Trump is directly undermining this promise.

The consequences are hard to overstate. He is trashing one of the foundations of the postwar European order, which has helped guaranteed peace on the continent for 70 years. And by equivocating on whether he would defend the Baltics, he creates a dangerous amount of uncertainty among Russians as to how seriously the US takes its NATO treaty commitments — the kind of uncertainty that, yes, could spark an actual conflict between the US and Russia.

This is yet another example of how unfit he is for the presidency. I can't recall where I heard it but someone wrote yesterday that the only reason the rest of the world isn't in full blown panic mode is because they can't wrap their minds around the idea that America would actually elect him. But it's already had an effect. The fact that this cretin has been nominated by one of America's two political parties is showing the world that we are more unstable than they knew. That's the kind of environment where people start to make errors in judgment and take chances they normally wouldn't take.

Trump has already made the world a more dangerous place and it's going to take some work to reassure allies and enemies alike that the US is still a mature, stable nation. The simple fact that he is where he is has already done tremendous damage. But if he were to win, the morning after the election we will wake up to a world that is a much different --- and even more dangerous --- place than it already is.

Update: The clean-up crew is on the job:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell “stressed that he disagrees with Donald Trump’s assertion that the United States shouldn’t immediately defend NATO allies, seeking to reassure the international community the U.S. would continue to come to the aid of countries in the alliance if they are attacked,” Politico reports.

Said McConnell: “I disagree with that. NATO is the most important military alliance in world history. I want to reassure our NATO allies that if any of them get attacked, we’ll be there to defend them.”

This kind of thing evidently isn't a deal breaker though. McConnell endorsed him.


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digby 7/21/2016 10:30:00 AM

 
Payback time for Ted Cruz

by digby

I wrote about Cruz for Salon this morning:

If night one of the Republican National Convention was all about the grim dystopian hellscape that is Hillary Clinton's America and night two was all about prosecuting and imprisoning Hillary Clinton for her crimes, night three was about re-opening the wounds of the hard fought Republican primaries? Yes it was.

Actually those issues have been roiling under the surface of the convention since the beginning of the week when Trump campaign manager went to the press and complained about John Kasich refusing to endorse the nominee. The bad blood was evident in angry exchanges between the two camps even forcing Paul Ryan to step into it and take up for the Ohio Governor. The issue appears to go beyond Kasich refusing to attend the convention and is more due to the fact that that he does not seem to be willing to put his organization to work for Trump to win the vital swing state in the fall. This explains Trump's repeated non-sequitor "we're gonna win Ohio!" over the last couple of days.

The feud continued through yesterday when the Kasich team leaked a story to the New York Times on the day Governor Mike Pence was to formally accept the nomination for Vice President that Donald Jr had offered the Ohio Governor the job back in May, telling him that he'd be in charge of both foreign and domestic policy, freeing President Trump up to Make America Great Again. The Trump people denied the story but it was certain to leave a bad taste in Pence's mouth on the morning of his big night.

Another former rival, Jeb Bush, also declined to attend or participate in the convention but wrote a scathing op-ed in the Washington Post on the eve of the gathering saying "Trump's abrasive, Know Nothing-like nativist rhetoric has blocked out sober discourse about how to tackle America's big challenges." He even suggested he might vote for the libertarian party candidate in the fall. That's an amazing statement coming from a member of the Bush family. A USA Today headline read "Once revered, Jeb Bush now an object of scorn for refusing to back Trump."

Those two are important because they could deliver votes on the one hand and money on the other and neither are willing to help Trump win. It's impossible to know how much personal ambition plays into this, probably some, but it's also possible that both of these men believe that Trump is a malignant force that is destroying their party and potentially the country. If they were only concerned with their own political futures, there is no reason they couldn't participate and endorse. It's not as if others aren't doing it.

One needs only look at Chris Christie who debased himself at Trump's feet for months in the hopes of being chosen for VP only to be spurned and embarrassed when he was passed over. But he gamely led a vicious witch hunt against Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night, obviously still willing to do whatever wet work Trump might require in the wan hope that he might be Attorney General in a Trump administration.

Others, who want to preserve their viability for a more realistic future are a bit less enthusiastic. Former governor Rick Perry introduces war hero Marcus Luttrell on the first night without ever mentioning Trump's name. Contrast that with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, once considered the GOP's brightest star, who took the stage on Wednesday and shouted his speech in a strange cadence that had people wondering what was wrong with him. Considering how bad the convention has been in general and the events that followed Walkers weird speech it probably won't be remembered. But in any other year people would be writing think pieces about why anyone ever thought Scott Walker was presidential material.

And then there was "lil' Marco" Rubio who in his inimitable fashion was too cute by half. He refused to attend the convention but agreed to do a short video trashing Clinton and endorsing Trump. It was ineffective at maintaining his distance or at delivering his endorsement and came off as manipulative and fake. It probably will not hurt him in Florida but it certainly didn't help his future national prospects.

Ted Cruz, however, did something you rarely see in politics. He took a huge risk in front of millions of people and nobody knows whether it made him or destroyed him. He showed up, he gave a speech, he congratulated Trump on his win and then pointedly did not endorse him. It earned him boos and jeers from the crowd at the end, when the Trump delegates all realized he wasn't going to be a good boy and follow the rules. They must have forgotten who they were dealing with.

Everyone assumes that he did this to set up his run in 2020 and that seems like a good bet. But it's worth listening to his speech if that's so. It wasn't your typical fiery, right wing Ted Cruz speech.  It was, of course, extremely conservative, hitting all the hot button social issues and jingoistic high notes. But the rhetoric was couched in words like diversity and tolerance and respect.  He even gave a nod to gays and Muslims and atheists and honored the family of Alton Sterling (which was met with stunned silence by the crowd.) It was the most "compassionate conservative" speech of the convention, contrasting sharply with the hard edged, angry verbal violence of the all the pro-Trump speakers. That was not an accident.

He knew he would be booed in that hall. He also had to know that after days of watching his former rivals grovelling before the man who had grossly insulted them for months, Republicans watching at home would see someone who didn't take potshots from afar but went into the belly of the beast, stood before the angry mob and Donald Trump himself and pointedly said they should vote their conscience in November. If his bet is that Trump is going to lose big and becomes an embarrassing memory for the GOP,  that's what he's betting he'll be remembered for.

I have always thought Cruz was an underrated politician in the Nixon mode, an unpleasant fellow who makes up for it with intelligence, hard work and strategic foresight. He's a liberal's nightmare in so many ways. It would be a mistake to underestimate him.

The 2016 GOP primaries finally ended last night. And the 2020 primaries officially started.


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digby 7/21/2016 09:00:00 AM

 

Now they've got a taste for it

by Tom Sullivan

Last night was supposed to be Gov. Mike Pence's night to accept the nomination as Donald Trump's vice president. Instead it belonged to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Once it became clear Cruz would not endorse Trump, Republican convention delegates who had hit their stride in chanting "Lock her up!" at Hillary Clinton drowned out the finish of Cruz's speech in a chorus of boos. Even from Texas.

CNN reports that a man in a donor suite had to be restrained from assaulting Ted Cruz after he entered it after his speech.

— Conor Friedersdorf (@conor64) July 21, 2016

In a smart, calculated speech last night in Cleveland, Cruz thumbed his nose at both the Republican standard bearer and Trump supporters in the hall. He stole the spotlight while keeping his distance from Trump, advising people to vote in November and to "vote their conscience." Heidi Cruz had to be escorted from the floor of the convention. Trump supporters were "approaching in a threatening manner," according to a report in Al Jazeera. Convention headlines this morning are peppered once again with the word chaos.

Josh Marshall noted that Trump's team had clearly seen the speech ahead of time, but seemed caught off guard by its effect on the crowd.

Alan Fisher observes at Al Jazeera (emphasis mine):

Trump tweeted that he saw the speech two hours before it was delivered and saw no reason to stop Cruz going ahead.

Why on earth would he let Ted Cruz speak without securing an endorsement? Why would he take such a risk? The campaign shouldn't have been so sloppy and unprofessional. Trump has made a virtue of running an unorthodox campaign and not using traditional political methods.

It's worked until now. But when such a mistake is made, it risks harming everything he's worked for to this point. And it's not the first mistake this week. There was the mishandling of the announcement of Trump's running mate Mike Pence, and the plagiarism row over a speech by this wife, Melania Trump.

The Cruz debacle sucked the energy and focus from the big set-piece speech by Pence, Trump's vice presidential pick.

But that's just the point. This is a campaign that has made being sloppy and unprofessional a Trump trademark. The last three days of this convention have proven that. It is a campaign with no clue as to how to govern and with no real interest in it. If Ohio Gov. John Kasich is to be believed, Trump's team offered to make him vice president and in charge of both domestic and foreign policy. That would leave Trump free to be in charge of "making America great again."

Trump could clearly use the help. In a New York Times interview released yesterday, Trump's response to whether he would defend NATO countries from a Russian attack was, essentially, he would have to think about it.

It's troubling to admit it, but in some sense, last night Ted Cruz may have taken the high road.


Undercover Blue 7/21/2016 06:00:00 AM

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

 
Dispatch from the trainwreck

by digby

This from former Bush official Dan Senor:

O'DONNELL: You and I are about the same age. What did you make of -- we were here broadcasting the primetime special of 10 to 11. This was half empty, this hall. And it was something like I've never seen before.

SENOR: Yeah, I've never seen anything like it. I was on the floor there right there during the roll call vote. So I've been to many conventions. During the roll call vote, the energy and intensity during that moment is palpable. People are swinging from the ceiling because they're so excited about their nominee. You could hear a pin drop. It was muted in here. I just think this is a party that has sort of resigned to this nominee but not excited about him.

This from his wife:

.@dansenor walking out as NY puts Trump "over the top". Sad day for America pic.twitter.com/EaBJiFWlOa

— Campbell Brown (@campbell_brown) July 20, 2016

Very proud of my #NeverTrump husband standing on the floor as one of New York's Kasich delegates. Will never endorse the racism and bigotry

— Campbell Brown (@campbell_brown) July 19, 2016

And yes, Dan Senor was part of the Bush administration that tortured people and started illegal wars. Trump would be no different on that count. It's the domestic war Trump's promoting that seems to be the bridge too far for these folks. I guess even they have their limits.

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digby 7/20/2016 04:30:00 PM

 
RNC Day 2: In case you missed Trump Jr's speech

By Dennis Hartley

He looks/sounds so familiar. Where have I seen this guy before…?

Ah! But of course:





Can’t wait for Day 3!

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digby 7/20/2016 03:00:00 PM

 
"She deserves the death penalty"

by digby

Last night Chris Christie led a show trial for a slavering mob that apparently thinks it's normal to put their political opponents in jail. He got them screaming "guilty!" on cue and shrieking "lock her up! lock her up!" like a mantra. It was barely checked mass hysteria and the only time in the whole evening the crowd seemed to come alive. Which is just creepy.

Mother Jones picks up the story this morning:

The next morning, it seemed, the ante was raised, when news broke that Al Baldasaro, a prominent Trump supporter who advises the campaign on veterans' issues, had said on a radio show that Clinton deserves to "be put in the firing line and shot for treason." Baldasaro spoke at numerous Trump rallies during the primary campaign, and Trump once praised him as "my favorite vet." (Trump's onetime butler recently called for killing President Barack Obama.) 

I wanted to find out how deep the sentiment to jail Hillary—or do worse—ran among die-hard Trump supporters gathering at events outside the convention hall. So I took to the streets to produce the video above. 

For some, execution was on the table. "She's extremely corrupt, she's extremely dangerous," said Rhonda Welsch, a 55-year-old food and beverage worker at a Hawaii resort. "I think that's what she deserves: the death penalty."

Now it must be said that average partisans on all sides often say dumb things like that. But you don't often see mainstream politicians inciting it directly at the national convention.

The thuggish Christie was so wound up that afterwards when "the prosecutor" was asked if he was passed over for VP because of his own legal exposure with Bridgegate, he seemed to further threaten Hillary Clinton if her campaign tries to defend her.



Just for he record, no petraeus did something much worse than Clinton. He hid clssified information at his home and gave it to a journalist who happened to be his mistress for a book she was was writing. And, by the way, he didn't go to jail.

Clinton committed no crime and even the accusations of "carelessness" are overblown and stupid. But even if it were all true, it's not a capital crime and the fact that GOP leaders are both tacitly and explicitly encouraging their followers to see it that way is a very dangerous precedent. Their beef with Clinton is political not legal and they know it. They are irresponsibly conflating the two in an overheated environment and they are just asking for trouble.

This piece by Dylan Matthews delves into the Christie speech and the broader problem of criminalizing politics in this ugly way.  it's worth reading. What Christie "prosecuted" Clinton for was policy, not crimes, many of which weren't even true or things she was responsible for. And people want to jail or kill her for them. It's primal witch hunt hysteria --- one of the women in that video even explicitly calls Clinton a witch.

This isn't normal, folks. Or at least it hasn't been normal in America for a good long while.

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digby 7/20/2016 01:30:00 PM

 
Even some Republican senators are getting queasy

by digby

This is from one of the Senators who is watching from home. He sees how it's looks:

.@HillaryClinton now belongs in prison? C'mon. We can make the case that she shouldn't be elected without jumping the shark.

— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) July 20, 2016

digby 7/20/2016 12:00:00 PM

 
He'll be too busy making America great again

by digby

You may have noticed that the Trump family seems to be obsessed with John Kasich. This may be why:

One day this past May, Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., reached out to a senior adviser to Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, who left the presidential race just a few weeks before. As a candidate, Kasich declared in March that Trump was “really not prepared to be president of the United States,” and the following month he took the highly unusual step of coordinating with his rival Senator Ted Cruz in an effort to deny Trump the nomination. But according to the Kasich adviser (who spoke only under the condition that he not be named), Donald Jr. wanted to make him an offer nonetheless: Did he have any interest in being the most powerful vice president in history? 

When Kasich’s adviser asked how this would be the case, Donald Jr. explained that his father’s vice president would be in charge of domestic and foreign policy. 

Then what, the adviser asked, would Trump be in charge of? 

“Making America great again” was the casual reply.

Paul Manafort has been openly feuing with Kasich for refusing to attend the convention in his own state. Yesterday Don junior was visibly upset that the Ohio delegation gave all their votes to Kasich in the roll call. And last night Trump himself weirdly interject, apropos of nothing, "we're gonna win Ohio!" in his video at the RNC.

They are definitely nursing a grudge. If they understand how bad this anecdote sounds (and it's not clear that they would) this will only add fuel to the fire.

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digby 7/20/2016 10:30:00 AM

 
The witch burning convention

by digby

I wrote about it for Salon this morning:

After a day of tummult over the Melania Trump plagiarism scandal combined with the startling news that Roger Ailes was out at Fox News due to his habit of sexually harassing the women who work for him, the convention finally got back to the business of putting on their big show. It didn't go very well.
The theme had been billed as  "Make America Work Again" which had seemed to indicate it would be about the economy but they evidently just said "oh to hell with it, let's just bash Hillary again" because nobody mentioned it.

Paul Ryan opened the convention to explain the rules for the roll call and introduced Jeff Sessions to place Trump in nomination. Sessions set the mood with this dystopian image:

"We have gotten off course. And the people know it. We operate like the trench warfare battles of World War I where hundreds of thousands die while no ground is gained!" 

He then said Trump is a "warrior and a winner" and nominated him for president. After some minor procedural skirmishes among the delegates they held the roll call and the New York delegation, led by Donald Jr, put Trump over the top. After all the #NeverTrump sturm und drang it was strangely anti-climactic.

Then came the speeches.  They didn't have another superstar line-up of entertainers like Scott Baio and Antonio Sabato Jr, but they managed to bring in some sports heroes like the Ultimate Fighter Dana White, and  a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model who used to have her own reality show on the Golf channel. That was it for the showbiz celebrities.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson gave a rather dull speech, undoubtedly disappointing the planners who were looking for a little of that good old southern gothic whitewater magic. Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas' Attorney General,  a self-described "Christian-pro-life, gun carryin' Republican woman," came a little bit closer by making fun of Clinton's accent.

Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey then droned on about Clinton's alleged email criminality for a while without mentioning Trump, likely because he signed on to the National Review "Never Trump" issue saying Trump had homicidal fantasies and his policies would get him prosecuted for war crimes.  He must be voting third party.

A man who runs a weatherproofing company said something boring and then The Donald himself was beamed in from New York to give a video address in which he said everything was incredible and promised to do unbelievable things when he comes to the incredible, unbelievable convention tomorrow.

Mitch McConnell took the stage to insult Clinton by saying "not since Bagdad Bob has there been a public figure with such a tortured relationship with the truth." (Actually, there's someone else in the race whose record of dishonesty is truly epic.) Paul Ryan was next with a speech he seemed to be giving to a GOP that doesn't exist. He said Republicans don't believe in division based on class and race, boring the heck out of the Trump crowd which waved their placards in desultory fashion. Kevin McCarthy said something dull and forgettable which, for him, counts as a big success.

Twenty two year old Tiffany Trump then delivered the first family testimonial. Surprisingly, it was one of the better speeches of the night because her description of her relationship with her father as one of nurturing and interest actually made him sound like a decent person. It stood out for the fact that it was one of the only speeches in the whole convention so far that portrayed Trump as a normal human being. It's uniqueness just points to the fact that there has been so little of the kind of "intimate portrait" of regular life that we usually see in presidential campaigns. One can guess that's because there really isn't much of it.

Unfortunately that's not what this convention is about. By this time the crowd was clamoring for a big hunk of Trump red meat and Chris Christie was just the man to deliver it. He didn't actually give a speech, it was more of a show trial in front of a slavering mob shieking "guilty!" and "lock her up" as Christie smugly delivered the "evidence."

This tweet by Rebecca Traister  accurately captures the mood:

Since Goody Rodham was placed in the water and thence did float & was observed conversing with a tall man in the woods, is she not GUILTY?

— Rebecca Traister (@rtraister) July 20, 2016

Republican Steve Schmidt complained on MSNBC that this endless chanting of "lock her up" is a disturbing  banana republic form of politics that is reminiscent of Pat Buchanan's infamous 1992 speech that was ecstatically received in the hall but repelled swing voters out in the country. Let's hope so. It was chilling.

Just as I noted that Melania Trump's speech sounded very professional in my notes on Monday night, my notes on the big Donald Trump Jr keynote said "better check and see that his speech wasn't plagiarized too because it was pretty good."  It turns out that his speechwriter did recycle some of his previously published prose for the speech, which seems incredibly stupid under the circumstances but the Trumps don't seem to think that double checking these things is worth their time.

There were some clunkers in the speech such as his eye-rolling insistence that he and his siblings got their training from people with "doctorates in common sense" and inexplicably spent their childhoods driving tractors. His promise that "we are going to put Americans first, all Americans, not a special class of crony elites at the top of the heap" shows that he's well on the way to achieving the colossal lack of self-awareness that characterizes his father.

Nonetheless,  he is much better at relaying the familiar Donald Trump message by teleprompter than his father is.  He made it clear that the world is going to hell in a handbasket in every possible way because the people in charge of everything are stupid and inept. But instead of the usual Trump asides and verbal tics the speech was coherent and delivered with real passion and energy. Fortunately, hearing that message from a normal speaker shows how banal it actually is when it doesn't come from the man himself. It's never been more clear that it's the man not the message that's responsible for this phenomenon and it's a relief to know this nightmare isn't likely to be replicated. Trumpism will die with The Donald.

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digby 7/20/2016 09:00:00 AM

 

Reality show trial

by Tom Sullivan

Soon after Republicans nominated reality TV star Donald J. Trump for president last night, New Jersey governor and failed Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie conducted a reality show trial for Hillary Clinton in prime time. It might have been less creepy if some faux cardinals burst onto the stage armed with soft cushions. But no, there was only one, soft Chris Christie repeating debunked allegations against Cinton and asking the mob(?) in the coliseum, "Guilty or not guilty?"

The theme for last night was Make America Work Again. Nobody seemed to speak to it. They were too busy attacking Hillary Clinton.

"Lock her up" pic.twitter.com/jAQXgMbkWe

— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) July 20, 2016

I wondered when someone would call for her head. I didn't have to wait long.

Man behind me in Georgia delegation just said "off with her head" ... and everyone around him laughed

— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) July 20, 2016

Yeah, that was just a matter of time. All that was missing was the Red Queen. It was at once comic and horrifying. Except for the "staggering" number of RNC delegates and dignitaries who stayed away because Donald Trump is that toxic in his own party.

This is actually dangerous. #RNCinCle delegates chanting, "Lock her up."

— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) July 20, 2016

A few shots of crowd chanting guilty pic.twitter.com/cwwCcCXqtZ

— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) July 20, 2016

Show trials are just for starters:

If he wins the presidency, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump would seek to purge the federal government of officials appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama and could ask Congress to pass legislation making it easier to fire public workers, Trump ally, Chris Christie, said on Tuesday.

Christie, who is governor of New Jersey and leads Trump's White House transition team, said the campaign was drawing up a list of federal government employees to fire if Trump defeats Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 presidential election.

Just think of what great reality television that would be. It's just that reality has little to do with this convention. The Republicans' 2016 platform claims, “The president has been regulating to death a free-market economy he doesn’t like and doesn’t understand.” Politico asked delegates just how bad the economy is:

“Actually, we’re doing great,” says Donna Gottschall, a human resources consultant in Greenville, S.C. “Employment’s up. Housing’s up. Everything’s green in Greenville!”

“Oh, yeah, unemployment is way down,” says Al Baldasaro, a state legislator and retired Marine from Londonderry, N.H. “Obviously, it’s gotten better.”

“Things are wonderful in our town,” says Ranae Lentz, a Republican county chair from Bellefontaine, Ohio. “We can’t fill all the job openings.”

Yup. That bad.

But just how bad were last night's RNC convention festivities? On NPR this morning, National Review Senior Editor Jonah Goldberg quipped that if you watched House Speaker Paul Ryan closely during his address, he was blinking T-O-R-T-U-R-E. Conservative New York Times pundit Ross Douthat also weighed in:

Everyone major figure who participated in this grotesquerie has disgraced themselves on a level unique in the history of our republic.

— Ross Douthat (@DouthatNYT) July 20, 2016

Wednesday night perhaps there will be togas and lions. Picture Chris Christie.


Undercover Blue 7/20/2016 06:00:00 AM

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

 
When Ailes Is Out, Will Murdoch's Sons Clean the Fox House?
by Spocko

One of the things that I've learned is that corporations don't like to associate their brands with certain repugnant behaviors and activities.

When these behaviors are brought to the attention of the public, the corporation needs to distance themselves from the person or persons engaged in them.

How a corporation goes about showing their investors they are "taking actions" varies depending on how little they believe they can get away with.

"Alies is out. No more sexual harassing here! Problem solved. Let's talk about Bill Clinton and the woman who stood by him while he was in the White House! What does that say about her?"

And the show in show business goes on. As in "show me the money." If the NewsCorp shareholders believe that canning Ailes is enough to stop the bad PR they won't demand more action.

So how do we convince the shareholders it's not enough?  By encouraging more stories from the survivors, and then not attacking them for failing to speak up sooner.
 
We could also ask other media outlets to do some research, Gawker has nothing more to lose. But maybe they won't. Then we should look for stories of repugnant activities, since that door is now cracked open. I suggest that we also look for people engaging in criminal acts at Fox News.

Because dollars to doughnuts, when you turn over the rock of Fox News you will find illegal acts.

Let the dirt digging begin!


Spocko 7/19/2016 06:30:00 PM

 
Guess who said he planned to edit Melania's speech?

by digby

That's right:

Trump told the New York Times, he’s going to deal with this head-on by having Melania talk about “women’s issues” and Ivanka about “her passion for gender equality.” He also says he’s planning to edit their remarks himself and add “ideas, jokes, points about Trump.” 

According to MSNBC, the draft the speechwriter Matthew Scull turned in did not contain the Michelle Obama remarks.

Occam's razor folks.

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digby 7/19/2016 05:30:00 PM

 
The movement puts their best face on the trainwreck

by digby

This is from Viguerie's shop. Clearly, the prime directive is to keep the rubes as angry with the establishment as they can throughout this debacle so they can keep the dollars flowing after November:

Day One of Donald Trump’s Republican National Convention – and make no mistake about it this is Donald Trump’s convention – was notable in many ways large and small, but the most important was its minimal airtime for politicians, especially establishment Republican politicians.

And this is exactly how Trump’s people wanted it.

Donald and Melania TrumpHaving a bevy of establishment Republican politicians like the Senate’s Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Jeb Bush would have stepped on Donald Trump’s message that he’s the anti-establishment candidate.

So instead of establishment Republican politicians that millions of Americans hate, Trump got his message out – verbally and non-verbally – through a host of decidedly non-establishment speakers and advocates.

And it worked.

But can you imagine the buttoned-down uptight Romney crowd putting the hirsuite Willie Robertson, star of the hit TV series “Duck Dynasty,” on stage?

Or Calvin Klein male fashion model and actor – and legal immigrant – Antonio Sabato Jr. on national TV to sell their candidate?

Never happen.

But the Trump people and Donald Trump understand marketing and communications on a completely different level than your typical establishment Republican politician, and so they understand that not only is “the medium is the message,” as media genius Marshall McLuhan insightfully put it, but that sometimes “the messenger is the message.”

And so Trump’s message of “I’m not one of them” came through loud and clear last night, even as the establishment media talking heads keep wanting to make a big deal out of the fact that certain politicians weren’t on the stage.

That doesn’t mean there were absolutely no politicians; freshman Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Joni Ernst of Iowa spoke, Congressman Michael McCaul, Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee was perhaps the most notable Capitol Hill establishment figure to speak and Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, revered among populists and believers in American exceptionalism, also spoke.

But the strongest messages – indeed the core messages of the Trump campaign – were delivered for the most part by non-politicians, such as Benghazi heroes Mark Geist (OZ) and John Tiegen (TIG), Milwaukee Country Sheriff David A. Clarke and Patricia Smith, whose son Foreign Service computer specialist Sean Smith was also killed in Benghazi.

Law and order, the truth that Hillary Clinton is a liar and directly responsible for the deaths of brave Americans, and the dangers of her policies on Islam and the Middle East were delivered not by Henry Kissinger or some other striped pants diplomat or scholar, but by a mother, a county sheriff and two brave Americans who fought an epic stand worthy of the Chosin Reservoir, The Lost Battalion or Landing Zone X-Ray, and became through their book and movie “13 hours” heroes that to this day remain unacknowledged by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

In an evening program of strong messages and unconventional messengers two stood out to me; former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Donald Trump’s wife Melania.

There is probably no one at the national level of Republican politics who has known Donald Trump longer, and knows him better than Rudy Giuliani.

And there’s probably no Republican politician who does not share the conservative social agenda and yet retains tremendous respect and credibility with the conservative grassroots than Rudy Giuliani.

Until Donald Trump came along, for conservatives west of the Henry Hudson Parkway Rudy Giuliani was the only New Yorker who actually resonated – and especially after 911 – came to represent the spirit, the pride, the greatness, the vast economic success of New York.

So when Giuliani said:

I have known Donald Trump for almost 30 years. And he has created and accomplished great things. But beyond that this is a man with a big heart.

Every time New York City suffered a tragedy, Donald Trump was there to help.

And he did it anonymously. (I bet that's a surprise)

You deserve to know this personal side about our next President. He has been a great father, father-in-law, grandfather and friend to me and my family.

He will keep us safe and help us achieve and embrace our greatness.

Even conservatives who most assuredly disagree with Giuliani's position on many items on the conservative agenda found his message about Trump pursuasive and credible.

That's because when Rudy Giuliani took the stage Donald Trump wasn’t being endorsed by a politician – a former Mayor and unsuccessful presidential candidate – he was being endorsed by the Empire State Building, the New World Trade Center and the muscular power that Americans used to associate with New York, before it was abandoned (once again) to the Democrats and to squeegee men, Occupy Wall Street, street thugs and Far Left liberal corruption and craziness about regulating soft drinks and gender pronouns.

Likewise, the key to Mrs. Trump’s effectiveness was not so much what she said, it was how she said it and how she presented herself.

And once again we look to Marshall McLuhan to understand that Mrs. Trump’s role was one of refined and highly targeted communications, which to my mind she executed it with precision as America’s first political spokesmodel.

This is not meant as criticism of Mrs. Trump, quite the opposite.

In the world of commercial and retail mass marketing no one would hire Bill Clinton to sell anything, especially his wife.

It is no different in politics – unless you are a Kool aide-drinking liberal – no one wants to buy anything from the crude, grasping, horndog-in-chief Bill Clinton.

And just by showing up he’s a one-man reminder of the scandals, the avarice, the lies and the two Americas – the lawless elite and the rest of us – that Obama and Clinton have created.

Mrs. Trump, on the other hand, communicated a sophisticated grace, humor and glamour – the essence of the Trump brand for his hotels and office buildings – which is simply another side of Trump’s “Make America Great” political message.

Unlike the other speakers, Mrs. Trump wasn’t on the stage to sell policy or any other ideas, she was there as the embodiment of the Trump brand, a role she played exceedingly well.

In the early days of TV one of the ways consumer products built their brand was to sponsor television variety shows and dramas, such as the General Electric Theatre hosted by Ronald Reagan.

Had Reagan hosted the Children’s Hour or the Howdy Doody Show he would have never been President because there was a symbiotic relationship in those shows; the quality of the content reinforced the brand of the host, just as the host’s polished delivery and informed commentary reinforced the sponsoring brand and its products.

And that really summarizes Day One of Donald Trump’s Republican National Convention. Trump’s goal, as we see it, was to build and reinforce his brand, as much through non-verbal as through verbal communications.

By keeping establishment Republicans like Paul Ryan, that millions of Americans hate, off the stage, and by putting Mrs. Trump, the very embodiment of the Trump brand, plus a highly targeted group of political outsiders on the stage, Trump went far in accomplish that goal.

His brand is chaos, dishonesty and fraud so this is really going quite well for him.

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digby 7/19/2016 04:30:00 PM

 
Chachi on the dais

by Dennis Hartley

Distinguished thespian and stentorian speaker Scott Baio gave an awesome speech at the RNC last night! He tore Hillary a new one:

“We have a choice in November, we can go for Hillary Clinton, … who wants to continue the same policies that are wrecking this country, policies that make us unsafe, a woman who somehow feels that she’s entitled to the presidency, that she’s somehow owed it, or we can go for Donald Trump.”

Dude! He cut her so low! Speaking of “wrecked”, here’s Baio delivering his finest turn in the best ABC After-school Special ever:





ACT-ing!


Cross-posted from Den of Cinema

Update from digby:

Here's Chachi on his misogynist tweet:

Baio told Hall that he wrote his short speech in church in Sunday morning before delivering it on Monday night. The host immediately seized on Baio’s invocation of his religious foundation to call into question a meme he posted on Twitter just over a week ago that appeared to label Hillary Clinton a “cunt.” “Did you think about that in church when you tweeted it out?” she asked.

As he has said in previous interviews, Baio dismissed the idea that there was anything offensive about the tweet, saying he was offering up the tweet “without commentary” and “just put it up there” for people in interpret as they will.

“But you know what it meant when you tweeted it out,” Hall said, asking him where his religious “moral compass” was when he decided to put that message out into the world.

“You can look at it any way you want,” Baio said, disingenuously. “It's the word ‘count,’ that's what she's standing in front of, I just put it up there. There's no commentary attached to it, I didn't call her anything, and the fact that you question my faith over putting up a picture is not nice.”

Yeah, it's not nice to question the "faith" of some washed up sit-com star who tweets that Hillary Clinton is a cunt. Very not nice. She should be ashamed of herself.

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digby 7/19/2016 03:00:00 PM

 
The GOP argument in a nutshell

by digby

The best-selling button at the RNC

This observation by Josh Marshall is important:

Numerous speakers from the dais, including some of the top speakers of the evening, called for Hillary Clinton to be imprisoned. At least two - and I think more - actually led the crowd in chants of "lock her up!" There has never been any evidence of criminal activity on Clinton's part. An investigation with a lot of pressure to find something amiss concluded that no charges should be recommended against her and that no prosecutor would bring charges against Clinton for anything connected to her private email server.

It goes without saying that it is a highly dangerous development when one presidential nominee and his supporters make into a rallying cry that their opposing candidate should be imprisoned. This is not Russia. This is not some rickety Latin American Republic from half a century ago. This is America. For all our failings and foibles this is not a path we've ever gone down.

This is not a disagreement about a matter of law: it is a demand for vengeance and punishment, one rooted in the pathologies of the current Trumpite right and inevitably to some extent about the fact that Clinton is a woman. If you have a chance rewatch the speeches by Rudy Giuliani or even more ret. Gen Michael Flynn. These are not normal convention speeches. It is only a small skip and a jump to the state legislator in West Virginia who demanded Clinton by executed by hanging on the National Mall. In such a climate, don't fool yourself: worse can happen.

This is the way authoritarians think to be sure. And the Trump Party is authoritarian through and through. But this sloganeering about how Clinton belongs in jail is sadly not confined to the right. There is an element of the left which consistently says the same thing, at least if my social media feeds are any example, with certain members of my own tribe calling for Clinton to be dragged off in chains for ... well, the crimes don't really matter.

I've never seen anything quite like it. I remember calls in the past for Karl Rove to be "frog-marched" to jail for his role in the Plame scandal. But the calls to jail Clinton are of an other variety, going back to a famous column by William Safire back in the 1990s in which he claimed that she was about to be indicted. Of course,she never was despite tens of millions of dollars and a totally unaccountable hostile independent prosecutor on the trail. In fact,  she never lied about all the things everyone said she lied about. But the idea of locking this woman up for something persists and it is one that really seems to appeal to a certain segment of the American population.

There is an entire cottage industry devoted to this meme.  Indeed, there were reports that there were pre-printed signs like these in the crowd at the RNC last night:

This is a disturbing one: gun lube:

This is some sick stuff and it would be really nice if people who hate Clinton but aren't completely batshit crazy would at least find a different way to express their loathing.

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digby 7/19/2016 01:30:00 PM

 
Plagiarism is a "shared value" according to Dr Ben

by digby

You cannot make stuff like this up:

“If Melania’s speech is similar to Michelle Obama’s speech, that should make us all very happy because we should be saying, whether we’re Democrats or Republicans, we share the same values,” he told reporters after addressing a Florida GOP delegation breakfast at a hotel here 20 minutes outside Cleveland, where the RNC is taking place.

“If we happen to share values, we should celebrate that, not try to make it into a controversy,” he added.

His comments come as Melania Trump faces intense scrutiny over a portion of her Monday night speech that echoed, nearly word for word, part of the first lady’s 2008 address at the Democratic National Convention. The Trump campaign insists that Melania Trump’s speech was not plagiarized, and Carson echoed that.

“I don’t think they were plagiarized. I think there are general principles that are very valuable to Americans, and of course to express those principles you’re going to use similar language,” Carson said.

He would say that, of course:

Carson, a former presidential candidate himself, is no stranger to dealing with fallout from plagiarism. In 2015, he apologized for examples of plagiarism found in his book, “America the Beautiful.”

Pressed on why he apologized then, if he was willing to wave off evidence of plagiarism now, he said as he ducked into a car, “Because I don’t like to keep a controversy going. I like to talk about positive things.”

Meanwhile the rest of the GOP reacts as expected. Paul Manafort blamed it all on Hillary Clinton saying it's yet another example of her smearing any women who opposes her. (No, I don't know how he spit that one out either.) And then there's this:

Yes, they have are officially losing it.


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digby 7/19/2016 12:00:00 PM

 

The Big Moment

by digby

This really happened. pic.twitter.com/GWHJlWUPLp

— Jon Passantino (@passantino) July 19, 2016

So did this:

Patricia Smith stood on the stage of the Republican National Convention and emotionally blamed the death of her son in Benghazi, Libya, on Hillary Clinton. Suddenly, Fox News Channel cut away to interview the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump. 

For nearly 11 minutes on Monday night, Trump overshadowed his party’s convention with a telephone interview that provided no major news but allowed him to brag about his primary victories, attack the news media and plug his wife’s upcoming speech. 

This was supposed to be the week that Trump finally stopped fighting for the nomination and pivoted to the general-election campaign. This was supposed to be the week that he stayed in the wings, like presumptive nominees usually do, and allowed others to introduce him and explain why he should be president. It was supposed to be the week that Trump showed voters a softer, more personable and compassionate side. 

But on the first day of the four-day GOP convention, Trump showed that he’s unable to yield the stage and a prime-time audience to others. 

He started the day by calling Fox News Channel to accuse President Obama of using “body language” that encourages racial division and anti-police sentiments that lead to the killing of police officers. For the rest of the day, he boomeranged between the spotlight and the shadows — disappearing for hours, then reemerging with an angry tweet or an unexpected interview. There was even a pre-taped interview that aired on the Golf Channel during the convention.

digby 7/19/2016 10:30:00 AM

 
Fear and Loathing in Cleveland

by digby

As the keynote speaker Senator Joni Ernst was on stage

I wrote about Day 1 for Salon this morning:

The first day of the Republican National Convention started off with a bang. Even before the event was gaveled into order Donald Trump's campaign chairman Paul Manafort picked a huge fight with Ohio Governor John Kasich for reasons that made little sense to anyone. He went on all the morning news shows to denounce Kasich for being "petulant" claiming he's “embarrassing his party in Ohio.”
for failing to attend the convention in his own state. The Governor's adviser John Weaver told the New York Times, “Manafort’s problem, after all those years on the lam with thugs and autocrats, is that he can’t recognize principle and integrity."

What happened on the convention floor later that day was anything but normal as the Never Trump delegates wanted a roll call vote to change the rules and the party chair blatantly knocked them down resulting in boos, catcalls and delegate walkouts:

Video: Drama in Cleveland -- GOP delegates shouting down the chair, demanding a roll call vote https://t.co/RZMXLZG8cL

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) July 18, 2016

That's not something we've seen at a political convention since the 70s at least.  But then Trump's whole campaign is a throwback to that era so it isn't surprising.

Let's just say that as the Republicans  prepared for their big opening night of "party unity" it seemed to be as elusive as ever. But as the evening festivities unfolded it became obvious that there was one overriding theme that might just do the job: fear and loathing of foreigners and Hillary Clinton. In other words, a CPAC convention.

It started out fairly light. The first few speakers of the evening were examples of the exciting celebrities Trump had been promising for the last month or so. They opened with the star of Duck Dynasty, Willie Robertson who joked about how he and Trump were both reality stars with hot wives, which I'm fairly sure was the first time anyone's ever said that in a presidential endorsement speech. He was followed by former TV star Scott Baio who, along with soap actor Antonio Sabato Jr (appearing later in the program) may have been assumed to be Latino outreach despite the fact that they are actually Italian Americans. There were no real Hispanics featured on opening night anyway.

Then came former Texas Governor Rick Perry, last heard railing against "Trumpism" as a cancer on the Republican Party. He didn't mention Trump at all, instead using his time to introduce war hero Marcus Luttrell who gave a heartfelt speech about patriotism and duty leading up to a message for the kids today: "your war is here,you don't have to go searching for it...Who among you are going to step up and take the fight to the enemy because it's here!"

Next was a searing speech from Patricia Smith, the mother of one of the four people killed in Benghazi who blamed Hillary Clinton personally for the death of her son and joined the crowd when they shouted and chanted that Clinton belongs in jail, the first of many such eruptions during the evening. It was a rather sad and disturbing performance.  The two men who wrote the book “13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi,” then droned on for what seemed like 14 hours recounting details of the event, also blaming Hillary Clinton for everything. Perhaps these people need to have a chat with Trey Gowdy while they're in Cleveland.

Onward to the Mexican criminal portion of the program. There were more memorials to the dead with the siblings of a border patrol agent and several more grieving people whose relatives were killed by drunk undocumented immigrants and gang members, which is also Hillary Clinton's fault.

Milwaukee Sheriff David Clark followed with a fiery fearmongering speech about law and order. His message in a nutshell:

What we witnessed in Ferguson, and Baltimore, and Baton Rouge was a collapse of the social order. So many of the actions of the Occupy Movement and Black Lives Matter transcends peaceful protests and violates the code of conduct we rely on — I call it anarchy.”

I think you can guess who is to blame for that, not just Clinton --- who belongs in jail herself --- but Barack Obama who has achieved his goal of dividing the country.

Senator Tom Cotton gave a traditional GOP hawk speech, barely mentioning Trump, that didn't set anyone on fire and Senator Jeff Sessions weirdly talked about trade and the economy as if he'd gotten the wrong instructions from the convention planners. And then came Giuliani with the night's traditional barn burner, described by the National Memo's Joe Conason on twitter as Mussolini meets Mr Magoo.  Among his many contributions to the scarefest was "there is no more time for us left to revive our great country! No more time to repeat our mistakes of the past!" signaling the end of the world apparently.

The crowd was very revved up when the stage filled with mist and the shadow of The Donald appeared to emerge out of it. There he was, the man himself who came to introduce his wife Melania, which he did in unusually succinct fashion after proclaiming "we're gonna win" several times. Melania gave a nice speech which in my notes I called "the most professional sounding speech of the night." As it turns out it "bears striking similarities" to Michelle Obama's 2008 DNC speech so that actually makes sense. In fact, it's pretty clearly plagiarized. As I write this nobody really knows exactly how this happened, but it's hardly surprising considering that Trump himself has blatantly lifted every one of his slogans from Reagan and Nixon without ever acknowledging it.

After Melania Trump left the stage people began filtering out of the hall since she'd been billed as the main attraction but the speeches went on and on afterwards with a bizarre, rambling speech from retired general Michael Flynn that sounded like it too was plagiarized --- from "Dr. Strangelove." Senator Joni Ernst spoke to a hall that was two thirds empty and there were even more people speaking late into the night after she was done.  For a convention that was supposed to be showbiz slick, the first night certainly had a haphazard feeling to it.

It finally, blessedly, came to an end with a prayer from the odd televangelist Paula White, who was rumored to have "brought Trump to Christ."  She said that never as before our nation needs prayer because "honesty has been outlawed." That's going a bit far, but it was at least temporarily suspended at the Quicken Loans Center in Cleveland last night.


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digby 7/19/2016 09:00:00 AM

 
Christmas in July

by digby



Just a little hair of the dog ...

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digby 7/19/2016 07:30:00 AM

 

Lock her up!

by Tom Sullivan

Hillary Clinton was the focus last night at the RNC convention in Cleveland when cultural resentment wasn't in the spotlight. In spite of the fact that Melania Trump's speech introducing her husband was supposed to be the headline event, speakers had Clinton in their sights all night.

Attacks on Clinton went beyond the "Hillary for Prison 2016" tee shirts worn in the streets by followers of Alex Jones. Pat Smith, mother of one of the U.S. Foreign Service officers killed in Benghazi, told the crowd Clinton "ought to be wearing stripes." Mocking Clinton's pantsuits, Colorado Senate nominee Darryl Glenn in his speech suggested Clinton "deserves a bright orange jumpsuit." By the time retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn delivered his fiery, but rambling "Wake up, America!" message about politicians failing to win wars, the crowd had begun shouting, "Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up!" The general joined in.

"BURN THE WITCH!" would not have seemed out of place.

Several speakers — most prominently former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani — insisted on loudly repeating "radical Islamic terrorism" as if it were some kind of Harry Potterish incantation learned in a Defence Against the Dark Arts class at Hogwarts. (A spell, they implied, the feckless Muggle occupying the White House refuses to deploy.) The recitation strangely echoed #BlackLivesMatter protests after Sandra Bland's death in police custody: #SayHerName. You can bet that was accidental.

What might not have been accidental were passages in Melania Trump's speech (probably the best of the night) her writers appeared to have lifted from Michelle Obama's speech at the 2008 Democratic convention. New York Public Radio's Mike Hearn (among others) thought that was a bit obvious:

So that's pretty blatant, right? pic.twitter.com/EPnHME7afV

— Mike Hearn (@mikehearn) July 19, 2016

It was, as several others noted, a pretty dark night, one about fears and threats and enemies. Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst's speech was all about ISIS being in your town and on your street, coming to kill you in your beds with their long, curved knives. Not exactly "Morning in America." An LBJ campaign video criticizing Barry Goldwater captures the unease more mainstream Republicans might be feeling about now (h/t Nancy LeTourneau):



Months more where last night came from.


Undercover Blue 7/19/2016 06:00:00 AM