Gene Wilder

Really sad to learn both of his death, and of his having had Alzheimer's for several years.

I can't think of anyone who made me laugh more. That it was almost always as part of an ensemble is a testament to his talent and seriousness as an actor.

Among the many clips being posted today:


And of many tributes.

Wilder was wonderful in all roles I've seen. I remember "Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx" from around 1970, when it was released (and has had limited availability since). The plot may have been over-the-top whimsical, yet I've always wanted to see the film again, on the strength of Wilder's sincere and un-cutesy performance.

That his timing was brilliant goes without saying. From all accounts, he seems to have been a genuinely sensitive and thoughtful person.

Those qualities came across as a sincerity that made it easy to feel a personal connection. With that, it's comforting to hear his nephew describe himself and Wilder's wife each taking a hand, just before the passing, as—

...incredibly, on a random speaker playlist, Ella Fitzgerald, who was his favorite singer, started to sing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow."

One Thing So Unlike The Other

Yesterday: Trump's awkward photo op in Louisiana flood zone. Steve M. picks this up, from Guardian coverage: a local holds forth on Trump's visit and on, uhh, other subjects—

"This is his stomping grounds," said Greg Patterson, who was cleaning muck from his store called the Pit Stop. The idea that a billionaire from Manhattan could describe the working-class corner of Louisiana as "his stomping grounds" did not strike Patterson as contradictory.

"We've got 2,000 houses damaged just in this area alone," he said, stretching his arm out to the south. "These people are already back in their homes, working to repair them. It's not like down in the Ninth Ward."

...

"I mean that's a bunch of government-owned housing," Patterson said. "Nobody here is looking for handouts or waiting on the government. These are Trump's people."

As the Guardian's reporter adds, there have been over 60,000 applications for FEMA aid.

Steve notes—

Of course, people like Patterson might literally believe that they can accept aid from FEMA, or handouts from Trump, and still be "self-sufficient" -- unlike Those People in New Orleans -- because, well, y'know.

In Comments, Jon Gallagher adds—

"Those people" in the Ninth Ward were not coping with a flooded river (and just in case you live by a river and don't know this: RIVERS FLOOD, IT'S WHAT THEY DO!).

The Ninth Ward was coping with the failure of a canal built through their neighborhood by the US Army Corps of Engineers to carry shipping traffic between the Mississippi Rive and Lake Pontchartrain. In other words, they weren't building houses in a flood plain, then expecting the government to bail them out when the inevitable happens, like white folks do. The government brought the flood to them, and could barely lift a finger to help them.

So, hey hard working Mr Greg Patterson, consider taking responsibility for your own self, and move out of the flood plain. The Mississippi has a tendency to move whenever and wherever it it wants (see "The Control of Nature", John McPhee, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_Control_Act_of_1928, and http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/05/what-weve-done-to-the-mississippi-river-an-explainer/239058/) and we taxpayers have been on the hook for decades to keep you and yours dry. Now that Global Climate Change (that you probably don't believe in) is well past its tipping point, you need to move to higher ground.

Obama, who happened to be on vacation, postponed visiting the area—just as Governor Edwards had requested, to avoid the strain on services that would be caused by having to provide the necessary security. On that topic of media comparisons of Obama to a previous vacation from the White House, Steve notes—

... In the current flooding, 13 people are dead and 40,000 homes have been damaged. In Katrina, at least 986 people died and 1 million homes were damaged. The current flooding is horrible, but Bush was faced with a much worse disaster, and dealt with it inadequately. In the current crisis, the heads of FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security have been to flood zone, 20 parishes have already been declared federal disaster areas, and quite a bit of assistance is already being provided. If the federal response turns out to be insufficient, that's a reason to grumble about the president. But that's not what we're hearing. We're hearing payback for the criticism of Bush's apparent indifference to Katrina.

Also, tengrain here, on what is and is not "Katrina."

"African-American Shoutreach"

Shakezula—

You know it's election season when a nominee from the party of bigotry stands in front of a bunch of white people and announces that since African-Americans' lives are terrible anyway (because that bigotry thing works really well) they should vote for him.

Not even a snarky paraphrase; not when Trump actually suggested the lousy bunch of losers should just smarten up and vote for him—

As Trump seems not to have brought along My African-American, none were in attendance. The speech was a great success, the audience agreeing: Lock Her Up.

Going With Tradition

Trump adviser Joseph Schmitz had anti-Semitic history at Defense Department. The quotes obtained by McClatchy are doozeys—

"His summary of his tenure's achievement reported as '... I fired the Jews,'" wrote Meyer, a former official in the Pentagon inspector general's office whose grievance was obtained by McClatchy.

...

"In [Schmitz's] final days [as inspector general], he allegedly lectured Mr. Crane on the details of concentration camps and how the ovens were too small to kill 6 million Jews," wrote Meyer, whose complaint is before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).

Schmitz comes by this as a birthright; his father was notorious as national director of the John Birch Society; Orange County Congressman; and one-time presidential candidate (he replaced George Wallace on the American Independent Party ticket, after the assassination attempt on Wallace). His political career was ended in a sex scandal that included child abuse accusations against the woman whose child he fathered (and refused to support).

Pretty much an equal opportunity bigot, though Jews came in for special attention; links and quotes from Schmitz père in Steve M.'s post.

Marks Confirm: Deck Shuffled

Manafort now officially out of Trump's campaign; the Breitbart piece of work in charge. Yet Trump issues "apology" over previous inflammatory statements ...

Steve M. notes Bannon's ethos of "anchor left, pivot right": his planting stories in the NYT and other respected media ("left") to advance the agenda. Steve concludes that Bannon convinced Trump to divert the media with the pretend apology—

It looks to me as if Trump is trying to "anchor left" by impressing the mainstream press with his phony contrition. And I suppose more seemingly substantive teleprompter speeches will follow, in order to gull the MSM rubes.

I'm sure Trump agreed to this only because Bannon told him it would better prepare the ground for vicious attacks on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. So more of those attacks are coming. The point of this was to soften the MSM up.

Brannon brings Trump access to the current crop of insane plutocrats who fund the GOP. Next stop: Trump News Network.

"No Matter How Small"...

Trump "exposed"—

A statue of a stark naked Donald Trump was put on display in Union Square Park Thursday afternoon.

Groups of people crowded around the statue to take pictures with it, while others shouted anti-Trump statements. It was taken down by workers from the Department of Parks and Recreation at about 1:15 p.m.

The Parks department said in a statement that "NYC Parks stands firmly against any unpermitted erection in city parks, no matter how small."

Red And White

For anyone with a memory of the Cold War, it was ironic (to say the least) when red became the official color of the GOP. I've always taken adoption of that particular color as nose-thumbing, and as a manifestation of the psychological projection of notables like Grover Norquist (see, for example, his declaration of Leninist principles in the war against Commie-libs).

Bring on Trump, to make the "Red" literal, through his ties to Russia.

Campaign staff may have been reshuffled with Paul Manafort under new scrutiny, since the discovery of secret payments he received from Putin's former Ukrainian puppet. Manafort hasn't gone anywhere, despite media focus on the newly named figures (a "Campaign Manager"—and a "Campaign CEO," no less...)

Manafort's history as lobbyist is one of "stealthily reinventing the world's nastiest tyrants as noble defenders of freedom," in Franklin Foer's account. Foer notes that the original link between Trump and Manafort was through Roy Cohn; so much for anti-Communism...

As Foer notes, Manafort, who ran Reagan's southern campaign in 1980, was responsible for its opening in Philadelphia, MS. Everything about Manafort's history suggests his serving as a link to both Red and White; the usefulness of both is seen in Trump's campaign reliance on white supremacist themes derived from Russian disinformation sources.

But it seems Manafort's approach just wasn't blatant enough; white supremacist anti-immigration groups are celebrating Trump's new Breitbartian "Campaign CEO," Stephen Bannon.

It's quite a program for Trump: gaining access to classified briefings and stirring up the most violent of armed domestic crazies.

That's just for now. Until November, and whenever the expected Trump TV launch happens, it remains to be seen what is to be unleashed.

Today In Fox News Candidacy

In his mind: not floundering, as he again overhauls staff. As Steve M. says here—

I think Trump believes he's finally righting the ship. Campaigning the way he wants to campaign has to work, because he's masterminded "a flawless campaign" (his words) -- or at least it was flawless until people who had doubts about his genius instincts began to meddle.

... Trump has spent years imbibing the right-wing media message that "real Americans" are all angry white Fox viewers, and that white liberals, white moderates, and non-whites who are skeptical of wingnuttery either don't exist or are undocumented aliens or only show up in electoral vote totals becaue of voter fraud. In this view, there's no difference between the Republican primary electorate and the general electorate -- those folks are "taking their country back," and everyone who's not them took possession of the country through evil subterfuge.

When this doesn't work, I don't know how Trump's going to explain it -- media bias, probably, or Clinton subterfuge....

It can't be his fault. Dammit, he should be winning. He really believes that -- still.

The predictable corollary: the GOP will be be allowed to wash its hands of the loss. Steve again, here, on why Republicans will succeed at pretending pretend Trump was never one of them.

Even as the base will have been driven to a new frenzy by Fox and the rest, and will be ready to explode over the newest and yooogest Dolchstoßlegende.

"Bye, Bah-eye"...

David E. observes the passing of John McLaughlin, about as charming a character as could be expected. A bully who may have felt entitled to sexually harass women staffers as a way of making up for time lost in his first career: as a Jesuit, before finding politics and media to be congenial and lucrative.

David E. cites this gem—

During an appearance [while still a Jesuit] on David Susskind's show, where he delivered his usual round of mendacious blather, McLaughlin was admonished "Lies priest—look to thy immortal soul!" The admonisher was Gore Vidal.

Today In Fox News Candidacy

It's back to basics, as Ailes advises Trump on "debate prep."

Says Steve M.—

Well, there may not be much actual prep, but I'm sure Ailes will have many ideas about how Trump can be even more toxically aggressive and offputting than he already is.

Reviewing Ailes' ugly tricks during Poppy Bush's run against Dukakis, Steve suggests that—

If Ailes were smart, he'd be advising Trump to surprise Clinton with kindness (and also with a mastery of policy). But Ailes is too much of a toxic male to think that way, as is Trump -- and Trump won't nail the policy in any case. Advised by Ailes, Trump is going to aim punches at Clinton that she sees coming a mile away.

They Asked For It; Every Last One Of Them

Via Shakezula: Roger Stone makes a new promise on Trump's behalf—

Donald Trump has made it pretty clear that if he is elected president he will seek the prosecution of Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea – that they would do anything necessary to remain in power.

Chelsea's power? That appears to be the invitation to her wedding not offered to Trump.

Shakezula: "And he vowed that he would one day run for president and have every member of the family thrown in prison ... Never mind, that's too much like a coherent plan." That's funny, yet viewing Trump's campaign as a "coherent plan" may be apt, at least in psychological terms.

I just saw this, which was posted last month. It makes a lot of sense, this explanation of Trump's entire career as self-creation in service to revenge against "insiders" who've snubbed him. Two years before the start of the pilot, The Apprentice - POTUS, McKay Coppins wrote a profile of Trump predicting he wouldn't run; during the GOP primary, the author became the target of a Trump tirade. Now, Coppins finds—

... What had most struck me during my two days with Trump was his sad struggle to extract even an ounce of respect from a political establishment that plainly viewed him as a sideshow. But what I didn't realize at the time was that he'd felt this way for virtually his entire life — face pressed up against the window, longing for an invitation, burning with resentment, plotting his revenge.

I had landed on a long and esteemed list of haters and losers — spanning decades, stretching from Wharton to Wall Street to the Oval Office — who have ridiculed him, rejected him, dismissed him, mocked him, sneered at him, humiliated him — and, now, propelled him all the way to the Republican presidential nomination, with just one hater left standing between him and the nuclear launch codes.

New Achievements In Kicking Irony's Corpse

tengrain previews Trump's "national security speech"—

Trump is also expected to propose creating a new, ideological test for admission to the country that would assess a candidate's stances on issues like religious freedom, gender equality and gay rights. ... applicants would be vetted to see whether they support American values like tolerance and pluralism.

Today In The Fox News Candidacy

Today In The Fox News Candidacy

Today In The Fox News Candidacy

Nice of CNN, to add the parenthetical and Fact check...

Once Upon A Time

Digby finds a 2008 Newsweek story containing this bit of history, about "the 1994 Reform Riders campaign, a nationwide bus tour designed to build support for President Clinton’s health-care reform agenda"—

The idea was to emulate the famous 1960's Freedom Rides but the campaign was plagued with protesters. In Portland, Ore., the route was blocked by an "angry anti-Clinton mob" who had their own bus, which was covered in red tape and dragged by a tow truck with a sign reading THIS IS CLINTON CARE. A plane bearing protest signs flew overhead. Hillary Clinton met the Reform Rider activists in Seattle where she delivered a speech on health care. The result was a mob scene. ...

Newsweek's article was based Carl Bernstein's book, Hillary Clinton, A Woman in Charge. The magazine quoted Bernstein here—

By the time the caravan had reached Seattle the threat of violence was constant. All week, talk radio hosts, both in the Northwest and on national broadcasts, implored their listeners to confront the Reform Riders to "show Hillary" their feelings about her. This "call to arms," as she described it, attracted menacing hordes, many of whom identified themselves as militia members, tax resisters and anti-abortion militants. She estimated that at least half of the 4,500 people in the audience of her Seattle speech were protesters. She agreed for the first time to wear a bulletproof vest. Rarely had she felt endangered, but this was different. During her speech, the catcalls, screaming, and heckling drowned out much of her remarks. When she left the stage and got into a limousine, hundreds of protesters surrounded the car. They were rabid with hatred. Several arrests were made by the Secret Service, which impounded two guns and a knife."

It's a story I missed, back in the day before bloggers tried filling in media blanks. But this MO is familiar from the 2010 "Tea Party" mobs threatening Congressional Democrats prior to the AACA vote.

The usual suspects had their mobs whipped up against their own self-interest, aided by special malevolence directed at the hated Hillary. As Digby says of Clinton facing the 1994 mobs, "She had to wear a bulletproof vest because people were trying to kill her --- over her health care plan."

"A Nation Within A Nation"

Charles Pierce on the DOJ report on "the racial catastrophe that is the Baltimore Police Department"—

The history of the numbers—and, therefore, how things went so badly wrong in Baltimore—is a sorry and not entirely inexplicable story. Not if you are familiar with the history of how things go so badly wrong in this country. Race is shot throughout the report; the numbers draw a clear and vivid picture of that. Everything in the report comes down to the disinclination of the civic and political power to grant the freedom of their constitutional rights to its African American citizens. Nothing in the report proceeds without that simple fact. From fugitive slave patrols to this report, the history of American law enforcement shows that so much of American law enforcement hasn't any more idea of how to solve this nation's original sin than does any other institution of American society. Except these people have badges. And guns.

"Losing To A Girl"

Again aiming her barbs to get under some very, very thin skin, Elizabeth Warren says, Trump "makes death threats because he's a pathetic coward who can’t handle the fact that he's losing to a girl."

There's also this latest incitement of a crowd against a journalist who displeased him. A journalist who—Need it be added?—is a woman.

"Party of Lincoln", in a new nutshell...

Today In The Fox News Candidacy

"Unfiltered"

The Times' video.