Juliajms

^ Talk about the politics of fear, damn.

I read recently that while Hillary likes Julian Castro she feels he's not quite ready. Also isn't there a minor scandal involving him and HUD? I haven't paid enough attention to that to know if it has legs. I also would have liked to see Elizabeth Warren, but I think she's probably correct to go with a safe choice. I think the conventional wisdom is that the VP choice doesn't help much, but it can certainly hurt as we saw with Sarah Palin.

This take down of Trump really sums it all up. Also, the note from his doctor towards the end is hilarious. http://www.vox.com/2016/7/21/12218136/donald-trump-nomination-afraid

I'm going to laugh my ass off if Ted Cruz doesn't endorse Trump tonight. Don't do it Ted! He said your wife is ugly and your daddy helped kill JFK. More seriously, I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that this conspiracy theory nutter got the nomination. I will never fully understand how it came to this.

^ I'm talking about the degree of regulations involved. I've never run a small business, but I've heard the red tape is out of this world. I'm not saying it can be any different, but I do understand why some people are frustrated by it.

I was thinking this too, even though I legitimately feel for people who are running small businesses. I think part of it is these people tell themselves that there aren't any consequences to other people's racism. I think that's far from true this time around and that's why Justice Ginsburg spoke up. Maybe she shouldn't have, but I personally can see why a Jewish woman felt the need to speak out against the kind of danger Trump is unleashing on our society.

I sincerely believe it had to be sabotage. I thought so last night and then James Carville said it this morning. After Antonia Sabato Jr. came off as such a nut, I was really expecting Kimberlin Brown to be some angry raving lunatic, but I came away feeling a certain sympathy for her. She was funny and she didn't shy away from being a soap star at all. I felt bad for her when she talked about the hate she received on social media. If this were a speech for Mitt Romney I could have come away from it with a deeper respect for her, but I stand firm in my thinking that opposing Trump is a moral imperative given some of the insane things he's said about Muslims, women and Latinos. Oh, and the wink and nod to the white supremacists. OK, I stand corrected. She sabotaged herself. What was she thinking?!

Thank you for posting that Soapsuds. I was relieved that she didn't say anything particularly hateful or crazy. I can even see how someone who runs a small business would be pro republican. And let's be honest, HRC did call women liars when they were telling the truth. That's just a plain fact. It just so happens she's running against someone so much worse that it doesn't matter to me.

She's an avocado farmer. Thanks. Well, I disagree with her politics, but wish her well with her crops.

Did Kimberlin say anything of note?

^ So they are upset that a murderer and a wife beater didn't take the stage? The amount of crazy coming out of this election cycle is just unreal.

This makes me think it was sabotage. http://www.vox.com/2016/7/19/12221654/melania-trump-rickroll I'll also admit for feeling a bit of sympathy for her, although I think the commentators on CNN are right and Michelle Obama would have been skewered for this.

No. You'll get a "God bless America" at the end of plenty of speeches, but the endless chants of "USA" are antiquated and anachronistic. I don't know, I think we still have a sort of superficial patriotism going on that wouldn't be considered normal in Europe or Australia. I feel like I've been hearing that chant my whole life (as well as flag waving) that isn't really common in the western world. If someone says it's more malevolent right now, I'll agree with that, but I don't agree it's something unusual.

It's semi normal here. It's usually done in a good natured kind of way. I said a few months ago this is the only time in my whole life that chant has scared me. Before Trump, I would say that these chants and flag waving were never a call to true nationalism the way Europeans would think of it. Now, who knows what the hell is happening. I think we are going to need to look at this from the distance of 5 or 10 years to see the true effects of this election, no matter who wins.

I just caught the end of his speech. Wow. I'm getting vicarious embarrassment already.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/antonio-sabato-trump-225718 I feel like General Hospital is being treated unfairly here. This guy hasn't been it's star in 20 years. I'm only kind of kidding. A few years ago I decided to stop using the world "surreal" because it had become so overused, but I feel like this election is getting more surreal by the day. It's really shaken my view of the US as a stable country.

I was watching people talk about the open carry rules at the convention. I really hope this convention comes and goes without a shooting. Just so much crazy going on.

What? Kimberlin Brown is going to be a convention speaker? Holy hell.

So Antonio Saboto Jr. is speaking at the convention. Alrighty then.

It's really odd to me that not being willing to compromise has become a good thing in some people's minds. Where has that landed us except in situations where the government is shut down or on the edge of defaulting on our national debt? No thanks!

I'll check it out. I love shows that are set in places other than LA and NY.

That sounds really good. I'm craving Five Guys. What I'm actually having tonight is salmon and rice.

^ Given the alternative, I sure hope so. If it were up to me, the democrats would have a candidate with less baggage. the process feels broken, but like Roman said, I'll be rooting for the lesser evil.

I do love the Clinton's, but I sure don't trust them. You'd have to be a fool to fully trust them. However I do trust them to run the country better than Trump or any of the other Republicans who ran this time around. That's kind of a low bar, I know. I sort of dread the next four years of inevitable scandal. I just hope Bill has more impulse control this time around.

That's good news. I was worried he might convince some people due to fear.