31 Comments
Sep 12·edited Sep 12Liked by Stephen Robinson

As Stephen is mentioning in this great article, don't let the clickbait headlines from Politico, Slate, WaPo, NYT and other MSM outlets suggesting Kamala won the debate fool you; they all have similar talking points designed to discredit her masterclass at handling Trump's stupid ass:

1. She was overprepared and sounded scripted

Oh no, a candidate who does her homework...so unpresidential! It's Hilllary all over again. Why can't she shoot from the hip like Trump?!

2. This won't help her in the polls.

There are no polls available yet, Nostradamus.

3. She did not discuss policy enough

She answered the questions she was asked. Blame ABC for being more interested in entertaining Trump's circus. Besides, I didn't hear Orange Caligula discuss any policy specifics at all

4. The debate will have no impact and the race will only get closer

Again, fuck off and your thirsty fucking articles, Nostradamus.

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I keep declaring myself the winner of the lottery but it’s not making me a millionaire.

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Sep 12Liked by Stephen Robinson

"Megyn Kelly ... her fun-size soul ..."

:D :D :D

I'm sure I'm not the only kid who thought every Halloween that this was the worst label ever dreamed up for a candy bar. Works so well here!

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Sep 12Liked by Stephen Robinson

I doubt the media will ever truly give VP Harris the respect she deserves. As a country we've always viewed everything as being decided by or created by men, so a woman can do the same thing as a man backwards and in high heels and she still won't be seen to be more competent or even as competent. At least they had to admit she won.

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Sep 12Liked by Stephen Robinson

It's just all so, so pathetic. Trump, his enablers, his cult/fans ... just so pathetic.

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Sep 12Liked by Stephen Robinson

Let’s not forget also that the last Clinton debate did move the needle for her. She had been cast as literally dying from Pneumonia and Dementia and she destroyed that narrative. She had a big bump in polling and would have won until Comey screwed her over.

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She did win… the popular vote. Even though that ‘doesn’t count’ in our stupid country, it should given what it means. More people voted for her.

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Sep 12Liked by Stephen Robinson

"Shapiro has obviously never recovered from the success of the Barbie movie." Tee hee.

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Sep 12Liked by Stephen Robinson

The thing is, Sec. Clinton could only caution the nation what a Trump term would look like. She was completely correct, of course, but his full impact was hard for many to imagine, and he’d been on TV, and she wore pantsuits, so those idiots voted for him.

VP Harris has a Trump term to point to, and to lay out why we don’t want to go there again. Like Clinton she’s brilliant and prepared and qualified, but she has also had to help clean up his mess and speaks from experience.

People don’t mention it (maybe they don’t realize) that the new POTUS will appoint her own AG. Contrary to popular trope, Merrick Garland has been cautious and effective, as lawyers are taught to be. Jack Smith will remain on the FL and DC cases, but Trump will likely commit further crimes post-election and either Smith or another special counsel will be appointed for those and it won’t take two years. This time, there will be no fruitless hope that he goes away on his own.

That debate focused Trump wonderfully, because prison is now so very real. He and his little made men are dancing as fast as they can about his debate performance, but we all have eyes and ears. And Taylor Swift.

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author

Yes, many rank-and-file Republicans dismissed the Trump threat in 2016 or simply saw him as a crass George W. Bush -- vulgar like LBJ but ultimately someone they could rely on to pass their legislation.

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Sep 12Liked by Stephen Robinson

If news channels need to be licensed, why does Fox "news" still have one?

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Sep 12Liked by Stephen Robinson

“flying the freaky “Mission Accomplished” flag higher than Willie Nelson. “

Oh my, this is how you know an SER Joint!….slava Ukrani!

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Sep 12Liked by Stephen Robinson

The outfield reference to the Wizard of Oz was when I caught on. :)

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Sep 12Liked by Stephen Robinson

“her fun-size soul” is poetry. Gosh, I love reading your work!

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author

Aww, thank you!

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Sep 12Liked by Stephen Robinson

Back in his safe space and acting out... what a pussy-assed little bitch.

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Sep 12Liked by Stephen Robinson

My unified field theory of current US politics (and a lot of Western politics, alarmingly) is that the right wing is now so reliant upon rampant disinformation that it’s a bit like some self-induced hallucinatory mental illness. And that there’s some kinda cautionary tale here. People who live by lying, there is always this risk: they get pretty confused about reality themselves. Trump’s bizarre otherworldly tirades onstage two nights ago came out in large part because Harris masterfully drew them out, but this has been a problem for them a while. They have enough people who believe them far enough that sometimes they can win, but if too many people not yet inside their bubble are paying attention at the wrong time, it’s a disaster. They look nuts because, well, they effectively are. And they did it to themselves.

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This. And I fear it's only going to get worse. You don't just live in an ideological bubble, you live in an algorithmic bubble. That is, your entire online life is catered to what you like, what you consume. So by default, your worldview will shrink and only be self-reinforcing.

Add to that statistics that say the majority of Gen Z and beyond get their news from TikTok ... we're doomed.

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Sep 12Liked by Stephen Robinson

This is the kind of lack of attachment to reality only possible when you have a captive rightwing media human centipede. It also helps when this centipede has segments installed in the MSM (of course that is pretty much Republican-owned.)

Therefore, President Klan Robe gets to benefit by virtue of the dark complex of McCain's and Murc's Laws, where even though Kamala Harris had to perform PERFECTLY to get even grudging positive coverage, all Klan Robe had to do was show up.

The Murc's Law dynamic came up in fact because there were people upset that Kamala Harris didn't have *details* for her plans. In a "debate" format that is basically all about speedrunning the Dozens. Now we're supposed to be having serious policy debate in one minute?

Democrats always get dinged for having policy because so much of this news coverage isn't about information; it's about entertainment. And abstracting complex policy into a minute is nearly impossible, because in the real world, shit happens and there are different conditions that may be needed.

And that's where Murc's Law really shines, because even then only the Democrats get held accountable for not only having detailed policy proposals but then they are the only ones held to those promises.

The MSM of course helps this along with their singleminded focus on whatever little bullshit they want to focus on with the Dems, and there is not the same desire to drum President Klan Robe out of the race like they did Biden (this is the source of the consistently low polling which made it untenable for Biden to continue).

All these outlets assert, of course, after Kamala Harris absolutely vivisects President Klan Robe that it won't change anything. And well of course it can't change if you keep asserting that in your coverage. All that and again Harris had to be PERFECT. I think the crowd sizes salvo might have even done psychological damage, and then she laid on tick damage with a Confuse status after that.

But here we are. In the end we all know the job we have to do this November. Bring a friend to the polls, and be sure to check on your registration, friends. Republicans are doing their best to trash it.

www.vote.org, www.iwillvote.com . You know the drill!

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author

Thank you! Well said.

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Sep 12Liked by Stephen Robinson

Well said🙏 no notes.

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Sep 12Liked by Stephen Robinson

Harris also got a few other benefits from the debate--the split screens, which will live forever in social media and in ads and news items, show a marked contrast that can only benefit her--a young confident looking woman next to a scowling old guy. Trump would have been better off looking like a jolly, kindly older man, but of course he is incapable of that. And swing voters do not like rage and negativity.

Also, in the debate she was often the aggressor, expertly parrying his attacks and taking it to him. This satisfies anyone wondering if she is "tough enough" not only against Trump, but against America's enemies. Going on offense on foreign policy--blaming the Afghanistan mess on Trump coddling terrorists and being manipulated by dictators--was key. It's not just the policy, but the image this projects, that will help her a great deal--and it's important to keep pushing on that.

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Sep 12Liked by Stephen Robinson

That especially looked good when she talked at length about how much he cozies to dictators and is easily flattered and manipulated to do whatever they want. And she also did a clinic on how easy he is to manipulate by essentially working him like he was a little Klansman hand puppet.

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And his counterpoint to her saying that foreign leaders are laughing at hime was Victor Orban, who is yet another dictator.

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Sep 12Liked by Stephen Robinson

Yep--I'm pleased to see that Team Harris is going in hard with "Trump is weak, Trump is weird, Trump is incompetent" rather than "Trump is scary" or "Trump is offensive" which just reinforces his brand.

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Sep 12Liked by Stephen Robinson

Debates usually don't move the needle much, though they can generate a positive or negative news cycle that gives a campaign the opportunity to follow it up and solidify voter opinions in the home stretch. Harris's team is likely doing that right now--much of that debate gives her clips to show that Trump is weird ("eating dogs!"), easily manipulated, and extreme. But also, Harris needed this debate because you'll notice Trump's numbers have been static for years--even when Biden's campaign imploded, Trump's numbers didn't increase. People know him, and don't like him. His only hope is that double haters will break toward him, and so he has no choice but to define Harris for her.

And he's done a lousy job at that. "Marxist" has lost its edge, wasn't Obama a Marxist, and Kerry and Clinton? He didn't have the discipline to explain why she was out of the mainstream, just very online rants about things only the right wing bubble could understand. And she had an opportunity to argue for moderate policy that can win over a lot of undecided voters. If she keeps that momentum going, she could pull off a win this fall.

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