Donald Trump looks Old.

[TomC]

Great strategy - keep poking so he sounds more and more deranged every day.

I can't help but think that is a big part of the strategy.
It's easy, with a decade of Trump video out there.

"Stormy said that you're lousy in bed, but rich enough to grab her by the pussy. Any comments?

Perhaps your VP, Mr Vance, has a comment?"
Tom

 

[Toni]

What I don't understand is how someone can be so angry all the time.
Like stress, it has to take a toll on ones health.
The amount of energy it takes to be mad all the time must be exhausting.

And Harris-Walz and the Democrats have just gotten started.
Tom

Which is an interesting point. Suppose Trump collapses to the point of being so unfit to serve that the GOP has no choice but to sideline him. Will Vance then head the ticket? I think that is the plan after Trump is re-installed as POTUS. Maybe they’d have to do it earlier….

 

[steve_bank]

If Trump as POTUS can not function then we are stuck with that creep Vance. Out of the frying pan and into the fire we go.

Vance makes Trump look competent.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Tl;dr on this:

I do not agree that the MAGA people have a legitimate gripe about being “unheard” versus the non MAGA people, who are also facing the same pressures, but are not trying to end the country over it as if they are the only ones suffering.

It's the standard path to radicalization. Find some grievance, real or imagined, point them at an easy target to blame. Plays the same whether it MAGA or jihadist.

 

[TomC]

Suppose Trump collapses to the point of being so unfit to serve that the GOP has no choice but to sideline him. Will Vance then head the ticket?

I think that the GOP has painted themselves into such a tight corner that they're screwed without Biden.
Who is no longer running.

Trump is so bad he can't take on Harris. And the GOP is so bad that they can't take on the election without Trump. How could the Teaparty Republicans possibly replace Trump in the campaign? What other Republicans are willing to run at this point?
Trump has grabbed the GOP by the pussy!
Tom

 

[marc]

All this old talk reminds me of the Doctor Who episode when the British PM pissed him off.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Suppose Trump collapses to the point of being so unfit to serve that the GOP has no choice but to sideline him. Will Vance then head the ticket?

I think that the GOP has painted themselves into such a tight corner that they're screwed without Biden.
Who is no longer running.

Trump is so bad he can't take on Harris. And the GOP is so bad that they can't take on the election without Trump. How could the Teaparty Republicans possibly replace Trump in the campaign? What other Republicans are willing to run at this point?
Trump has grabbed the GOP by the pussy!
Tom

Never underestimate the power of emotion by asking rational questions and making rational observations.

 

[Elixir]

We should have a whole thread of “Stormy says” questions for reporters to ask him.

Stormy said that you're lousy in bed, but rich enough to grab her by the pussy. Any comments

“Mr President, Stormy says your genitalia are very, uh, diminutive. Have you considered surgery?”

 

[TV and credit cards]

If Trump as POTUS can not function then we are stuck with that creep Vance. Out of the frying pan and into the fire we go.

Vance makes Trump look competent.

Into the fire, indeed.

I watched Vance on one of the Sunday morning show, Face the Nation. He can present a rational side if he wants. He knows what audience he is speaking to. He can be more dangerous than Trump. Hopefully we'll never find out.
I'm surprised anyone would get onboard with Trump given the carnage he leaves in his wake.

 

[Toni]

If Trump as POTUS can not function then we are stuck with that creep Vance. Out of the frying pan and into the fire we go.

Vance makes Trump look competent.

Into the fire, indeed.

I watched Vance on one of the Sunday morning show, Face the Nation. He can present a rational side if he wants. He knows what audience he is speaking to. He can be more dangerous than Trump. Hopefully we'll never find out.
I'm surprised anyone would get onboard with Trump given the carnage he leaves in his wake.

Vance is clearly extremely ambitious and also is clearly intelligent. He completely remade his public stance on just about everything in order to appeal to the MAGATs and Trump. He is decidedly untrustworthy. Most likely if Trump won, he would be quickly shuffled aside and Vance installed. We *might* see some shift in his public POV —or perhaps not.

To me, it seems obvious that Trump sees his fate if he’s elected as clearly as he sees his fate if he loses. He actually sounds sympathetic to Biden. He knows what is possible and frankly, likely.

 

[Elixir]

Trump sees his fate if he’s elected.

What fate do you think he sees?
I believe he intends to become King Donald The First, and pass his crown to his halfwit son when he croaks.

 

[jonatha]

his halfwit son

Sorry, can you be more specific?

 

[Elixir]

his halfwit son

Sorry, can you be more specific?

Come on Dude! Who follows King Donald I, if not King Donald II?

 

[ideologyhunter]

I believe he intends to become King Donald The First, and pass his crown to his halfwit son when he croaks.

Trump World is like King Lear (a play that I'm suuuure Donald reads and rereads and has a profound knowledge of.) The kids all surround the old king and there's a contest to see who can kiss the most ass. In this schema, Don Jr. is Regan (both because he wants to be a Repub hero like Reagan, and because both Dons would misspell Reagan.) Eric is Goneril (because he is less persuasive than Regan and because he looks like his fetal development was scarred by gonorrhea.) Tiffany Trump would have to be Cordelia, because Pop has no use for her.
Not to drag this thing out: the king is accompanied by a Fool throughout; that would be Rudy, who even has the makeup streaming down his head to fit the part. At the end of the play, the King is wandering through a hellscape with rain falling, ranting -- which would be Trump on a good day. He finds out that the ass-kissing children are swine, who pretty much kill each other off. He finds out that Cordelia (Tiffany) is the true Trump, and then, apparently in a reaction from too much onion on his Whopper, dies on top of her dead body. In the play, Edgar and Kent say the last words over the King: 'The wonder is, he hath endured so long.' In Trump World, the King emits one last, loud, tapering-off basso fart, as...
The curtain falls.

 

[Toni]

Trump sees his fate if he’s elected.

What fate do you think he sees?
I believe he intends to become King Donald The First, and pass his crown to his halfwit son when he croaks.

Oh, he intends to be King Donald. If I were Don Jr. I would not hold my breath waiting to be annoyed and of course, Eric is completely out of the running.

I don’t think the party will allow Trump much say. They know he is very much in stereo cognitive decline. As long as plausible, they’ll trot him out to grift what they can. And then I suspect he might have an accident if they are kind. Or else, they’ll install that strapping young fella, Vance or whatever it is that he calls himself.

I think that Trump is not actually stupid as much as he prefers not to engage in deep thinking ( and is no longer capable, even given the limited extent to which he ever was capable.)

I think that there is enough of his mind that still functions to realize that he’s likely to lose and end up being tried for more of his crimes. He saw Biden, a formidable man, deposed. He knows it can happen and people actually liked Biden and respected him. Trump has no such people.

 

[Toni]

I believe he intends to become King Donald The First, and pass his crown to his halfwit son when he croaks.

Trump World is like King Lear (a play that I'm suuuure Donald reads and rereads and has a profound knowledge of.) The kids all surround the old king and there's a contest to see who can kiss the most ass. In this schema, Don Jr. is Regan (both because he wants to be a Repub hero like Reagan, and because both Dons would misspell Reagan.) Eric is Goneril (because he is less persuasive than Regan and because he looks like his fetal development was scarred by gonorrhea.) Tina Trump would have to be Cordelia, because Pop has no use for her.
Not to drag this thing out: the king is accompanied by a Fool throughout; that would be Rudy, who even has the makeup streaming down his head to fit the part. At the end of the play, the King is wandering through a hellscape with rain falling, ranting -- which would be Trump on a good day. He finds out that the ass-kissing children are swine, who pretty much kill each other off. He finds out that Cordelia (Tina) is the true Trump, and then, apparently in a reaction from too much onion on his Whopper, dies on top of her dead body. In the play, Edgar and Kent say the last words over the King: 'The wonder is, he hath endured so long.' In Trump World, the King emits one last, loud, tapering-off basso fart, as...
The curtain falls.

Yes, I’ve been thinking of King Lear a lot the past few days. Unfortunately for Trump, Ivanka is no Cordelia and Rudy aside, he has no loyal fool except the anonymous crowds whose numbers are dwindling. Remember in Lear, the fool told the truth. No one in Trump’s circle can do that. Rudy cannot and doesn’t even know what the word means.

 

[Elixir]

I think that Trump is not actually stupid as much as he prefers not to engage in deep thinking ( and is no longer capable, even given the limited extent to which he ever was capable.)

I don’t think he ever exhibited a 100+ IQ.
If you tested him with standard tests back when he had all his marbles, he MIGHT have scored in the high 90s. There is likely some narrow associative capability that greatly exceeds the average, manifesting as cunning, but doesn’t carry over to other areas.

 

[Bronzeage]

If Trump as POTUS can not function then we are stuck with that creep Vance. Out of the frying pan and into the fire we go.

Vance makes Trump look competent.

Into the fire, indeed.

I watched Vance on one of the Sunday morning show, Face the Nation. He can present a rational side if he wants. He knows what audience he is speaking to. He can be more dangerous than Trump. Hopefully we'll never find out.
I'm surprised anyone would get onboard with Trump given the carnage he leaves in his wake.

Vance is clearly extremely ambitious and also is clearly intelligent. He completely remade his public stance on just about everything in order to appeal to the MAGATs and Trump. He is decidedly untrustworthy. Most likely if Trump won, he would be quickly shuffled aside and Vance installed. We *might* see some shift in his public POV —or perhaps not.

To me, it seems obvious that Trump sees his fate if he’s elected as clearly as he sees his fate if he loses. He actually sounds sympathetic to Biden. He knows what is possible and frankly, likely.

Accepting to be the running mate to a Presidential nominee is an all or nothing roll of the dice. It means giving up whatever career one has made for themselves and committing to some other guys/gals policies, positions, etc. Being the veep on a losing ticket is a fast track to obscurity, unless you do something really stupid during the campaign. If you win, it sort of places you at the front of the pack for the next opening in the Oval Office, but no promises.

This reality means the best qualified will be reluctant to step up when the odds are poor. On top of that, Trump's running mate is stripped of any "fighting for a noble cause" trope that usually takes the sting out of failure.
I'm sure the choice of Vance was similar to choosing Sarah Palin. Vance was the highest on the list who was willing to take the gig.

 

[Toni]

If Trump as POTUS can not function then we are stuck with that creep Vance. Out of the frying pan and into the fire we go.

Vance makes Trump look competent.

Into the fire, indeed.

I watched Vance on one of the Sunday morning show, Face the Nation. He can present a rational side if he wants. He knows what audience he is speaking to. He can be more dangerous than Trump. Hopefully we'll never find out.
I'm surprised anyone would get onboard with Trump given the carnage he leaves in his wake.

Vance is clearly extremely ambitious and also is clearly intelligent. He completely remade his public stance on just about everything in order to appeal to the MAGATs and Trump. He is decidedly untrustworthy. Most likely if Trump won, he would be quickly shuffled aside and Vance installed. We *might* see some shift in his public POV —or perhaps not.

To me, it seems obvious that Trump sees his fate if he’s elected as clearly as he sees his fate if he loses. He actually sounds sympathetic to Biden. He knows what is possible and frankly, likely.

Accepting to be the running mate to a Presidential nominee is an all or nothing roll of the dice. It means giving up whatever career one has made for themselves and committing to some other guys/gals policies, positions, etc. Being the veep on a losing ticket is a fast track to obscurity, unless you do something really stupid during the campaign. If you win, it sort of places you at the front of the pack for the next opening in the Oval Office, but no promises.

This reality means the best qualified will be reluctant to step up when the odds are poor. On top of that, Trump's running mate is stripped of any "fighting for a noble cause" trope that usually takes the sting out of failure.
I'm sure the choice of Vance was similar to choosing Sarah Palin. Vance was the highest on the list who was willing to take the gig.

In a normal situation: yes. Vance was chosen for Trump by the billionaires boys club. I don’t think Trump had much choice. Hayley would have been a better choice to win but she’s publicly opposed Trump. Vance? He’s nobody. Wrote a book. Trump doesn’t read so that’s not a danger signal that maybe Vance has his own ideas.

 

[Shadowy Man]

In a normal situation: yes. Vance was chosen for Trump by the billionaires boys club. I don’t think Trump had much choice. Hayley would have been a better choice to win but she’s publicly opposed Trump. Vance? He’s nobody. Wrote a book. Trump doesn’t read so that’s not a danger signal that maybe Vance has his own ideas.

Vance also publicly opposed Trump. All Haley would have to do is grovel just a little bit more than she already has and hope that all her voters, who liked her because she publicly opposed Trump, would be just as unscrupulous as she is. That would have been a more likely way to increase Trump's voting base than to pick Vance.