Monthly Archives: July 2016

They're saying Donald Trump will pick or maybe has picked Indiana governor Mike Pence as his running mate. This comes as a surprise in the sense that some of us kinda expected Trump to pick a fictional character or maybe a small puddle of green liquid. The choice of Pence is rational…sort of.

He's a solid conservative who'll please a lot of Republicans who aren't sure Trump knows or cares what that means. It makes so much sense that I can't help but think that when the time comes, Trump will say, "Mike Pence? No, I said 'My Pants!' I'm nominating my trousers as my running mate because they're the greatest trousers in the entire world. Ask anyone. They're all saying it!"

And it makes sense for Pence, too. He was in a tough re-election battle in Indiana, one that a lot of people seemed to think he'd lose. This gets him out of that and into a contest where if/when the ticket goes down to defeat, he won't look too much like a loser.

One reason it makes sense for Pence to be Trump's running mate is that, as noted here, Pence has a negative approval rating. He may be the only vice-presidential nominee from a major party to have one when he joins the ticket. That's in keeping with the negative approval ratings of the two folks at the top of their tickets.

I'm thinking Hillary ought to keep the trend going and pick, say, Bill Cosby. Then Pence with his -6 approval rating would be the most popular guy in the race.

• How Trump picked Pence: "Find me a guy Politifact says is even less accurate than I am!"

My favorite online-only musical performer Julien Neel favors us with a Disney classic…

The National Weather Service is predicting clear skies and highs of 77-79° and lows of 68-69° for July 21-24 when Comic-Con happens there. Since the convention center is situated by a marina, you can probably subtract about 4° from those numbers. This means you will not be perspiring heavily in your Harley Quinn costume.

Donald Trump has been claiming that there are folks out there — conveniently unidentified in his telling — who revere the man in Dallas who killed those police officer and asked someone someplace to observe a moment of silence for him. No one knows where this occurred, not even Trump's campaign co-chair could say where it happened.

But as Josh Marshall points out, this is just an attempt to get white people (mostly likely the dumber white people) out to support the Trump campaign…because that's really all he's got going for him. It's stoking the fires of white resentment of minorities and it is, of course, based on a lie.

Like the mythical multitudes in New Jersey who he claimed cheered the towers falling on 9/11, no one will ever prove it occurred. But many a Trump follower will (a) believe it and (b) not think Trump is any sort of liar. We may be in for a lot of this between now and November.

Here's a rerun from 12/20/10. I have nothing new to add to this story…

One day in the early eighties, I took my 1957 Thunderbird (the one I no longer own) in for detailing at a place in Beverly Hills. When I went to pick it up, there was a short delay in bringing it out so I got to chatting with the manager there. He asked me if I'd ever seen a Pierre Cardin Cadillac. I said no. He said, "Come on in here," and he took me into one of his garages. There, I saw the most beautiful new (i.e., non-classic) car I'd ever seen in my life. It was not the one in the photo below, which is a picture of another model of Pierre Cardin Cadillac. It was even better looking than that, painted with pinstripes in colors one does not ordinarily see on an automobile. I asked him to explain just what it was I was looking at. Car buffs, please forgive me if I get a few of the numbers wrong.

He explained, "Every year, the Pierre Cardin company buys 100 new Cadillacs right off the assembly line. They get them unpainted and without upholstery or other decorations. The Pierre Cardin people supply all that. They design a special paint job, a special interior, special carpeting…everything. Then they install it all. It's a designer Cadillac."

He then went on to explain about the one glistening there before me: "Customers have to order them and put down a 25% down payment. Then they're shipped out from the Pierre Cardin factory but before they go to the buyer, they're sent to a detailer like me to give them a final cleaning before delivery. But this car is homeless. The guy who was going to take delivery of it defaulted on his last payment or something so he's not going to get it."

I asked what was going to become of it. He said, "It's been sitting here for two weeks. I'm charging them storage while I wait for them to tell me what to do with it. Hey, you interested in buying it?"

I wasn't interested in buying any new car at any price but I had to ask, "How much is it?"

He said, "Seventy-five thousand dollars." That's a lot of money for a car now and you can imagine how much it was at the time, which I think was around 1983. A brand-new non-designer Cadillac Eldorado that year was around $20,000. I paid a lot less than that for the T-Bird.

I told the gentleman I wasn't interested in buying a new car. Especially a $75,000 car.

He said, "I could probably arrange for you to get a thousand off." He said that as if he expected me to say, "Whoa! I don't want a $75,000 car but of course I want a $74,000 car! Write it up!" Instead, I said no thanks. He asked why not. I said, "Well, the price is reason enough. But even if I had that kind of money to spend, I wouldn't drive a car that fancy and expensive. It practically screams, 'Steal me! Steal me!'"

"Oh, no," he said. "People never steal these."

"Are you serious? A beautiful car like this, people don't steal?"

"It's too dangerous," he explained. "There are only, like, three of them in the entire state. If someone's driving one around, it gets noticed instantly. If you're going to steal an expensive car, you want to steal a grey Mercedes. They all look alike."

I didn't completely buy that but I asked him, "Okay, so people don't steal Pierre Cardin Cadillacs. Do they ever strip them for parts?"

He said, "That, they do. And it's beastly expensive to replace parts or to get certain things fixed on them."

"So why would anyone possibly want one?"

The man thought for a second, shrugged and replied, "To tell the whole world you can afford one."

Do you love Monty Python? Then read about the unknown hero who saved the original TV episodes from being lost forever. (The known hero who gave me that link is Shelly Goldstein.)

Jeffrey Toobin on what Hillary did right and wrong with her e-mail scandal. He believes — and I think there's something to this — that since Whitewater, both Clintons treat any investigation as a partisan attempt to tar them with scandal. Which is just what most of them are…but that doesn't mean their response to all has been the right one.

Another dose of John Oliver to tide us over until he returns with new shows on July 24…

I saw a lot of posts yesterday from angry Bernie Sanders supporters, most of whom made a quick leap from thinking Bernie could do no wrong and was the one guy in the world who'd never sell out…to wailing that Bernie had sold them out. Ah, but for what? For getting a large portion of his agenda into the Democratic platform and for wanting Republicans to not keep the Senate and also win the presidency? There's a sleazy bribe if I ever heard one.

I dunno what else they expected him to do. Consider two of Bernie's main objectives: Universal health care and free college. Which of these two possible presidents — President H. Clinton or President D. Trump — is likelier to get us close to those? Which one's likelier to get tough with financiers, cracking down on unscrupulous business practices like, say, Donald Trump's? (If you think Hillary would be just as bad there…well, maybe. Or maybe Bernie, with an insider's perspective, thinks otherwise.)

Really though, it comes down to alternatives. I don't see where Senator Sanders had any. Some of those who'd backed him are saying, "There should be a third party," which is one of those things people say and then nothing ever happens. It's like when something transpires in government that you don't like and you vow to pass a Constitutional Amendment to overturn that. Nothing ever happens. You say it, you feel good and then you forget about it because it's too much work and it'll never happen anyway.

Any time you hear someone say "We'll start a third party" or "We'll pass a Constitutional Amendment," just imagine they're saying "We'll cover the entire planet in cream cheese!" Because the chances of the cream cheese happening are really about the same as the odds of the third party or the Constitutional Amendment.

The folks calling for a "third party" are also forgetting that we already have a third party…and a fourth party and a fifth and so on. Their impact on national elections is basically to act as "None of the Above." You and I will win as many states as Gary Johnson. It would be great if any of those were viable but it just doesn't work that way. You know why it's Johnson running on the Libertarian ticket and not Rand Paul? Because Rand Paul wants to stay in politics.

So does Bernie Sanders and I hope he does for as long as he can.

Great speech by Bernie Sanders just now. Hard to believe that any of his supporters thought he wouldn't give Hillary an enthusiastic endorsement. The notion that he had anything meaningful in common with Donald Trump other than "outsider" status was always ridiculous. Hey, my gardener has "outsider" status, too. He'd make a great president if all we want to do is plant bougainvillea around the White House.

Let's see: Sanders wants to put restrictions on what corporations and the rich can do to this country. Trump wants them to be able to do whatever they want, no matter what it does to the poor and disadvantaged. Yeah, there's a lot of common ground there. Why, just think of all that Senator Sanders could do for his agenda with Republicans controlling the House, Senate and Presidency.

I have a few friends who were so obsessed with the idea of electing Bernie Sanders that they fell into the whole Fox News/Trump "Crooked Hillary" meme. They wouldn't believe another word from those sources but they bought into that premise because, you know, when you're fervent about an election, every single negative thing anyone says about your opponent is true.

I know it's tough to turn loose of that kind of thing. There are folks out there who refuse to believe that electing Bill didn't destroy the economy. But — and I have a friend reading this who'll know I have him particularly in mind — Bernie Sanders can get up there and admit that it's time to forget about what's not going to happen and do the best you can. I hope all his supporters can do that too.

My wonderful friend Carolyn sent me this link. It's the United States Navy Band with selections from Jersey Boys. Of course it is…

If you think Hillary Clinton is the Anti-Christ in a pants suit, you probably won't want to read this piece by Ezra Klein about her. You'd probably think it was some blind partisan puppet of hers, trying to spin her shortcomings as strengths. Given his past track record, I know Klein's too sharp a reporter to do that. If you like Hillary or might like Hillary, it's an interesting read.

For the record: I like Hillary. I voted for Bernie but I'm fine with Hillary and not just because she's not Donald Trump. I don't like everything she's said or done but if I wait for a candidate who's perfect, I'll never vote again. I think she's smart. I don't think she's crooked. I do think there's something to the theory — which Klein doesn't completely buy — that a lot of the distrust some people have for her flows from the avalanche of phony, baseless scandals and accusations. She was guilty of wrongdoing in Whitewater, Filegate, Travelgate, Vince Foster (etc.) the same way Barack Obama is guilty of being a gay Kenya-born Muslim who is secretly working to destroy America.

On my plane ride to Vegas two weeks ago, I sat next to a loud Hillary-hater who was lecturing everyone around us about her and we got into a debate which most of the nearby passengers found amusing. Basically, his thesis was that Hillary's been accused of so many things, she couldn't possibly be honest. Somehow, the fact that none of these alleged crimes resulted in indictment or prosecution was, in his mind, proof that she was devious and had blackmailed someone or bribed someone or whatever. Because he knew she was guilty and that was that. One thing I'm not looking forward to in a Hillary Clinton presidency is 4-8 years of that from her opposition.

I have friends who are solidly behind Hillary Clinton for president and others — a lesser number but some — who think Trump is the only way to go. The latter group seems to be laboring under the delusion that convincing me — the guy who works on Groo the Wanderer — that Trump would make a great president will vault him into the White House.

Newsflash: I get but one vote and it's in a state where former Secretary of State Clinton currently has a lead of somewhere between 18 and 23 points. If Trump ever closes that gap to the point where there's a chance of him winning California, it will probably means he already has a lock on the other 49 states plus the District of Columbia.

The former group — those who support Hillary and/or would sooner feed their genitalia into a wood chipper than see Trump win — are alternately happy with the polls and worried that "something will happen" that will change the whole dynamic of the race. I agree "something will happen" but wonder if it, whatever it is, will really change anything unless it means a change of nominee(s). Until it does, I see no reason to fret about the race. I do see a reason to stop looking at the national polling and having panic attacks over minor fluctuations.

Once again, I remind you: We do not elect our Chief Execs based on the popular vote. Ask President Gore if you don't believe me. We do it by the Electoral College. If you want to know if there's really something to worry about, keep your eye on Nate Silver's charts of who's likely to get the needed 270 votes to win.

Silver and his crew figure it three ways. At this moment, Hillary Clinton is projected to win 342 electoral votes via one projection, 315 by another and 337 by the third. Please stop writing or calling me from the window ledge with worry until she dips below 300. And when she does (if she does) tell me which 29 more electoral votes you're worried are at risk.

I am not saying Trump cannot win and I am certainly not saying that Clinton and her supporters should not be campaigning with all their might. Even when you're way ahead, run as if you're somewhat behind. But stop stoking your ulcer by thinking that every poll that shows Trump closing the gap in the popular vote means we're going to have four years of the guy who brought us Trump Steaks.

And yes, I know at one point I didn't think the Republican Party would nominate the guy but there's a big difference between the right-wing party voting for a someone I consider a dangerous right-winger and the entire country voting that way. For one thing, the Republicans were always destined to nominate someone I thought was a dangerous right-winger. I just thought for a while it would be a different one.