DRW50

I'm sure she's very effective for her state, and has some good ideas, but after all these years the "I can win because I won (Republican Congressional district) in my state" no longer moves me. I feel like she has ended up being known more for what she doesn't support than what she does. It's just been a really lousy campaign year that has dragged everyone down. In another year she might have had more of a chance. Medicare for all gets rid of all private insurance plans.

Between the heavy pushing of Amy Klobuchar and the incredibly stupid, pathetic question begging the Democrats to name their best Republican friend (Republicans would never be asked that type of question), CNN is no longer even bothering to hide their right wing bias. I am so fed up of all these hanger-ons like Klobuchar or Gabbard or Buttigieg who are just taking up time and in many cases reading Republican talking points. And Booker and Castro and O'Rourke are mostly just done - I feel like Booker in particular is stuck in some kind of parody world at this point. I just wish the whole thing was over already. Another night where I have a hard time imagining any of the Democrats being able to handle a general. I think Harris is the one who is most likely to stay cool under pressure. Biden can't, Bernie is Bernie, and Warren seems to be getting rattled. Yet they are the main three...

This is from months ago but I just read it today. The author rebuts the empty and elitist "go back to your hometown [aka 'real America'] you out of touch liberals" talking points so often pushed by the media. https://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/4/8/18297172/midwest-hometown-small-town-middle-america

Love this.

Another reason not to trust Facebook. https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/14/facebook-zuckerberg-conservatives-private-meetings-046663 For the umpteenth time, Bloomberg is thinking of running for President. https://theweek.com/speedreads/871662/michael-bloomberg-reportedly-still-thinking-about-running-2020 I finally get a chance to use this out of date meme:

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/10/maggie-haberman-details-the-insane-few-hours-trump-had-a-impeachment-lawyer-before-he-was-basically-out/ Sounds like it was the usual brain dead Trump rollout, rather than any actual morality. As if any Republican knows what that word even means.

I didn't know that was against their rules. I thought Alan Halsall did the same thing.

Looks like Trump is going to take us deep into the hole with the EU too. https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-builds-anti-trump-trade-bazooka/

That's true. I wasn't sure how much they delve into politics. I've mostly watched through Youtube clips.

And meanwhile you have tiny men like Shapiro all but ignoring this tragedy to talk about how he'll wave a gun at Beto if he ever tries to take his freedom to be a homophobe. These far right bigots love to talk about freedom and rights, but it's only ever for themselves. This poor woman literally paid with her life for trying to bring freedom to countless people, and we will hear crickets.

I think they will probably just cut the US further out of discussions and decisions, as they are also doing with the UK, another country they know they can no longer trust. I feel like we've reached a turning point no matter who is elected in 2020, probably reached it back in 2002 and the Obama years were just him doing his best to try to keep the tattered threads that were still there. Eddie was able to bring in a friend of his who was a writer, and managed to have a good working relationship with the producer, who was not Lorne Michaels. I think some elements have improved (the writing staff is much more diverse, even if the faces onscreen still aren't what they should be), but nothing will really improve until Lorne is gone, and beyond that, until major changes are made at NBC itself. If Kamala is still in the race when Black Lady Sketch Show comes back I do look forward to their take on her.

Unfortunately I felt like most of the media coverage of Kamala ended up being stolen by Chris Cuomo being a moron, although I would have enjoyed seeing Maya Rudolph again, if she was available. I know SNL isn't really a big priority compared to real world problems but after the terrible job they did with Obama I hope they will eventually learn their lesson. So far the best I can say is they no longer use brownface, which is...a low bar.

They have three black men in the cast, although I doubt the two who weren't there could have made it work. I enjoyed Lin Manuel Miranda's cameo, but I didn't think he really needed to be in either sketch as Castro has had no real moments in the debates aside from the one where he tried to bait Joe Biden. In the first one some of his supporters said it wasn't right he was not there and Marianne Williamson was, but they only had her on very briefly to completely humiliate her. I guess it's a broader statement asking why SNL has no Latino men in their cast, which I agree with. SNL hasn't known how to write political material since about 1994, outside of some of the Sarah Palin sketches, so I mostly end up just enjoying the few times that aren't complete rock bottom and have some life to them.

That was great. Apparently according to Streeter Seidell, who co-wrote it with Mikey Day, the idea was from David himself and Lily Allen (?!?). I also liked the podcast daddy issues pre-tape he did with Kyle Mooney. Harbour was a great host and if they have any sense they'll ask him back. The episode as a whole was one of the easiest to watch in a while and reminded me of why I became a fan a very long time ago.

@I Am A Swede @DaytimeFan Lesley-Anne Down interview from 1974.

I had a lot of thoughts about Elizabeth Warren's joke about gay marriage opponents, how I think she fell into a trap, and how I resent the hell out of the media already trying to push a narrative about this (going as far as to say "black barber shops" will be upset about her joke and also dragging W's old crony Ari Flesicher out for commentary), but instead I'll just post this SNL sketch, which is a bit hacky in many places (it's modern SNL, after all), but took the ridiculous approach that is pretty much the only way you can take her comments. Other points go to "Julian Castro" apologizing for being straight, and for the bizarrely vicious parody of Joe Biden that has popped up repeatedly this season.

I wasn't really comparing present day Woody and Ronan, but his father could be Liberace for all it matters to me, so if people think it's Frank, so be it.

His daughter put out a few videos that he was in. This got gushy media attention...until the allegations popped up again. His daughter has since deleted the videos. I do think that he has enough powerful friends in the industry to try to push for him again in a few years, if he wants it to happen. I can see why some might feel Ronan has gone after NBC so hard because they didn't support the Weinstein story, but I do think there are many valid reasons to go after them. There's been clear corruption and toxicity at NBC for many years - the way they handled the Ann Curry fiasco, Brian Williams, on and on and on. NBC has too much power in this country - the support they gave Trump in particular is damnable.

Brainless Bimbos of Murdochia? Smith has always been a hate figure to the far right base that makes up Faux News viewership so I imagine a lot of people are very happy today. This will just make them even more of a house organ for Trump.

Is he one of the people Trump was trying to push out or was he one of Trump's goons?

Fonda herself regrets the extent of what happened, so I think everyone understands how veterans like your father must feel. I'm sure the media will try to make this a big moment, but there's so much going on these days I'm not sure it will work.

I blame W, and his backers (especially in the media), for much of the anti-intellectualism now rife in both parties. The appeal of W was supposed to be that he was a dumbass. That meant he was just like us. You could have a beer with him. Al Gore thought he was so smart, he thought he invented the Internet, he thought he discovered the Love Canal incident, he believed global warming was a threat (so silly!!!). Ever since then it's been a slow ride to hell in where we are now, where anybody with no brain who just shouts the right words is seen as "real." This is one of the reasons I'll never go along with the people who say W wasn't so bad because he was able to not be as openly disgusting as Trump is. The recent controversy over Ellen Degeneres hanging around with him, and various celebrities like Reese WItherspoon or Kristen Bell rushing to her defense to tell everyone how special it is that she has a big enough heart to be pals with a war criminal, has pushed all my buttons. (the response to this is usually "but what about the Obamas being seen with him" - that's a very different situation than anything with a Hollywood celebrity, but sure, any time I see any opportunity given to make him look like a teddy bear, it turns my stomach)

I think the trust probably went away for good after the way we treated the world following the sympathy and support they showed us post 9/11 - we went on to bully them into war, and shamed and belittled any country that didn't agree. I think Obama knew that trust, and those relationships, were gone, and was pragmatic enough to base relationships on a mutual need. That's the question - do any of these countries need us anymore, after Trump? I doubt it. I think we've turned a corner in terms of isolationism and shutting ourselves off. Unless Biden is getting a second wind, then the Democratic nominee is likely to still want to keep much of the world at arm's length. Not in the same way Trump does, but enough to continue to push us more and more into our own bubble that no one can ever penetrate.

It's the same story, just interesting to see that others were out there trying (he said he couldn't seal the deal because of NDAs).