THE ANSWER MIGHT NOT BE THAT COMPLICATED: Harris Is Slipping — But Why? “When a presidential candidate goes from a slight edge to a nearly 20-point deficit in the betting odds over the course of a week, there’s clearly something in the air — even if it’s only in people’s perceptions. So what accounts for the sudden perception of Kamala Harris as a loser on election day?”
Archive for 2024
October 16, 2024
CHRISTIAN TOTO: Sad: Variety Goes Full Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Film critics bring their biases into the theater. Every time.
Political. Cultural. Social.
Heck, this critic adores horror movies and avoids period dramas when possible. (That said, “The Favourite” was wonderful.) It’s the critic’s job to acknowledge and set aside those biases. Films deserve nothing less.
The same holds for film analysis. And it’s here where Variety’s Owen Gleiberman loses the plot. Why?
All together now: “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
The veteran critic is sad to see that the anti-Trump hit piece “The Apprentice” bombed in its theatrical debut.
Not just sad. Deeply disturbed and even paranoid.
STAY WARM: Wrangler Authentics mens Long Sleeve Fleece Quarter-Zip Sweater. #CommissionEarned
IT CAN’T BE BARGAINED WITH. IT CAN’T BE REASONED WITH. IT DOESN’T FEEL PITY, OR REMORSE, OR FEAR. AND IT ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT STOP… EVER, UNTIL YOU ARE DEAD: This gecko-inspired robot amputates its own limbs to survive.
HOW TO FURTHER ALIENATE WHATEVER REMAINS OF YOUR FANBASE WITH THIS 1 WEIRD TRICK: Star Wars Adds Trans Clone Trooper.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: Don’t Buy A Gas Mask…Unless You Read This First.
BUT OTHER THAN THAT, IT’S GREAT:
Rooftop solar is a disaster:
1. In California, rooftop solar has shifted electricity costs so that poor Californians are paying an estimated $6.5 billion more electricity. Someone has to pay of the grid and rich solar panel owners aren't.
2. Rooftop solar has also wrecked the… pic.twitter.com/7TqJdFVaqc
— Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) October 16, 2024
PROTEUS IV HAS ENTERED THE CHAT: AI Unbuttoned This Programmer’s Blouse But It Isn’t What You Think.
LIMITED TIME DEAL: Dyson V15 Detect Plus Cordless Vacuum. #CommissionEarned
THEY’RE FLAILING: Harris’ top surrogates Clinton, Obama and Biden backfire on campaign trail, boosting Trump.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has been able to spin Vice President Kamala Harris’ top Democratic surrogates’ recent campaign stops as an endorsement for him as their statements have somewhat backfired.
Former Democratic presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and current President Joe Biden have been surrogates for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Trump has used some of their recent remarks to benefit himself, whether it be a failed political move or a statement.
What follows is a nice summary of flailing stories you’ve almost certainly already seen over the last couple of days but, as I wrote earlier today, “in a close election, flailing might work.”
So no getting cocky.
POLITICO MAKES SURPRISE IN-KIND CONTRIBUTION TO TRUMP 2024 CAMPAIGN: Federal employees are worried about a return of Donald Trump to the White House.
EPA employees are shuffling to “safer” agencies. An Interior Department worker is putting off buying a new car and poring over Project 2025. And civil servants across the government are worried they might soon get fired.
Federal employees throughout the executive branch are panicking at the thought of another Trump administration.
Former President Donald Trump has pledged to “demolish the deep state.” His running mate, Ohio Republican Sen. JD Vance, has said Trump ought to fire “every civil servant in the administrative state.” It’s not just campaign-trail bluster. In the waning days of his first administration, Trump sought to make it easier to fire federal employees — a move that was quickly reversed by the Biden administration.
Workers in some agencies are particularly distraught about a possible Trump return. The former president and his allies have singled out certain agencies — including those that issue environmental rules — as prime targets, should he return to office in January.
Climate, clean energy and conservation programs scaled up and burnished with cash during the Biden administration are certain to be lightning rods for Trump and his team. That’s looming large over energy and environmental workers, who are feeling the pressure on a professional level as they’re hustling to get Biden’s priorities wrapped up in the coming months. It’s also hitting them personally as they fear they might soon be out of a job.
The prospect of a Trump return is shaping how one Interior employee and their spouse — another federal worker — are handling their finances.
“We have stopped doing any money-spending things because what if we’re without jobs in the next year?” the Interior employee said. “We need all the savings we can get.”
I’ll take “Statements millions of ordinary Americans have been saying during the last four years” for $500, Alex.
Related: Let’s Assume the Polling Trends Are Right and Donald Trump’s About to Win. Then What?
But what if they’re wrong? ‘I’m Not Doing This S—t Again’: Border Patrol Agents Warn of Mass ‘Exodus’ if Harris Wins Election.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION: Bentley used original design drawings to meticulously recreate its 1930 Speed Six.
DON LEMON: ‘Far-Right’ Media, ‘Misogyny,’ ‘Sexism’ Are Why Black Men Have Ditched Kamala.
Monday on his eponymous independent show, former CNN host Don Lemon lashed out at black and Latino men who’ve, at a minimum, shown an iciness toward Vice President Kamala Harris and an openness to former President Trump. This, Lemon argued, was due to consummation of a “center right or far right” media “ecosystem” of “digital, streaming podcasts” as well as “misogyny” and “sexism” “that they’re being left behind, especially by women.”
Later in the show, Lemon surprisingly came to the defense of CBS Mornings co-host Tony Dokoupil by rebuking CBS News for their all-but public struggle sessions by pro-Palestinian employees humiliating Dokoupil for his grilling of author Ta-Nehisi Coates.
But starting with minorities being interested in Trump, Lemon first lamented that “young men of all ethnicities are listening to media now…as we call ‘mainstream media’ or ‘corporate media’” but rather “digital, streaming, podcasts, all of this and in that ecosystem, everything is pretty much to the right — either center right or far right.”
Don’t get cocky, but most lefties don’t play the “right-wing media bias” card until after the election is over.
STANDARDS? WE DON’T NEED NO STINKIN’ STANDARDS: Diplomas for all: Massachusetts will vote on ending state graduation standards. “In the wake of pandemic learning loss, many states are lowering standards to get students to a diploma. Massachusetts was a leader in using standards and testing to drive accountability. If it abandons that effort, says James Peyser, the former education secretary, it will be a signal to other states.”
JOHN GILL SET TO FINALLY VISIT GERMANY: Biden to visit Germany to discuss Ukraine, alliances.
NOTHING IS REAL ANYMORE: Spotify criticized for letting fake albums appear on real artist pages.
STEALTH EDIT: FBI Quietly Revises Violent Crime Stats.
When the FBI originally released the “final” crime data for 2022 in September 2023, it reported that the nation’s violent crime rate fell by 2.1%. This quickly became, and remains, a Democratic Party talking point to counter Donald Trump’s claims of soaring crime.
But the FBI has quietly revised those numbers, releasing new data that shows violent crime increased in 2022 by 4.5%. The new data includes thousands more murders, rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults.
The Bureau – which has been at the center of partisan storms – made no mention of these revisions in its September 2024 press release.
Well, this happens when your focus is on monitoring Trump supporters, pro-lifers, and churchgoers.
But at least the DNC-MSM got to “fact-check” the former president last month:
Flashback: ABC’s @DavidMuir “fact checks” Trump during debate, falsely claims crime is down pic.twitter.com/r4uTckozVq
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 16, 2024
MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: BMW Just Told Europe to Stick Its EV Mandate WHERE?
THE ENEMY WITHIN: ‘Alarming’: House report warns of China’s tie to U.S. universities.
UNEXPECTEDLY:
BREAKING: The FBI just quietly updated their crime data for 2022. Turns out it was missing thousands of crimes!
The updated data shows there were 80,029 more violent crimes than in 2021. There were an additional 1,699 m*rders, 7,780 r*pes, 33,459 robberies, and 37,091 aggravated… pic.twitter.com/oEAgDsf1Lc
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) October 16, 2024
Positive spin: Finally, a Biden administration revision that isn’t downward.
MOVE ALONG, NOTHING TO SEE HERE, CITIZENS: ‘Evil’ super gang seizes four apartment complexes in major Texas city in new terrifying show of strength.
A dangerous Venezuelan gang has taken over at least four apartment complexes in San Antonio, Texas, as it expands its reach in yet another America city, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Dubbed the ‘epitome of evil’, Tren de Aragua (TdA) is known to run drug smuggling, child prostitution and human trafficking rings in South America, with its members crossing over into the US in recent years amid a wave of Venezuelan migrants.
The tattooed mobsters have since unleashed a wave of crime across the country from Miami and Texas to Denver and New York.
The gang’s activities in the American cities are back in the spotlight after ABC News’ Martha Raddatz claimed the instances of gang members’ presence in apartments was limited to a ‘handful’ of complexes in Aurora, Colorado.
Just last week a small army of police officers raided an apartment complex in San Antonio and arrested 19 individuals – including four gang members.
Law enforcement sources confirmed TdA had been operating at the Palatia Apartments for five to six months – squatting in empty units they either rented out to other migrants, used as a base to deal cocaine or, most horrifically, as prostitution dens to pimp out women and children.
But now DailyMail.com can reveal that this apartment invasion is just the tip of the iceberg in the major southern Texas city, with at least three other rental properties also occupied by the criminal organization.
As Rush Limbaugh’s former engineer Bo Snerdley tweets, “Don’t worry. According to [Martha Raddatz], it’s just a ‘handful’ of people committing criminal acts. Nothing to be concerned about — and you might be xenophobic if you dare mention it.”
Related: How Republican states have borne the brunt of migration.