TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2024
Here's what Trump actually said: We hadn't planned to start with a possible ghost dance today. That said, Kevin Drum—channeling the Biden-Harris campaign—has pretty much forced us to do it.
So too with Jonathan Lemire, at 5:05 o'clock this morning—right there on MSNBC, right there at 5:05 a.m. sharp.
Kevin has been running with the possible dance—a form of "I know you are but what am I?"—for the past several weeks now. Below, you see the start of his post from late last evening.
We're big fans of Kevin's work. (Increasingly, Lemire has become a clown.) That said, we think he's bad wrong in his latest iteration of this new, low-IQ Storyline.
Does Kevin's post advance a new ghost dance? Below, you see the way his post starts, headline included. In this (possible) dance, our blue tribe has begun to advance varieties of this general claim:
Everything is going to hell
What is Trump even saying here?
[VERY SHORT, TIGHTLY EDITED VIDEO CLIP]
On his good days, Trump is still fine. On his bad days he can barely string two sentences together.
Simple message: It's Trump who's losing his mental acuity! No way is it Joe Biden!
As you can see at Kevin's site, the very short, tightly "edited" video clip comes to us, live and direct, from the X feed of "Biden-Harris HQ." At the Biden-Harris feed, it comes with a transcript of what Trump supposedly said at a New Hampshire event last night.
The Biden-Harris HQ post was issued at 10:42 last night. In full, its transcript quotes Trump saying this, with punctuation and signs of edits helpfully washed away:
Transcript from Biden-Harris HQ:
Trump: Which is incapable of solvin’ even the sollest problem. We are an institute in a powerful death penalty. We will put this on
(Closing punctuation omitted.)
"Which is incapable of solvin’ even the sollest problem?" Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Except that isn't what Trump is shown saying in the actual video clip.
Back to Kevin's post! As Kevin goes on to note, the overall meaning of what Trump was saying was perfectly loud and clear. And no, blue tribals, no:
In fact, Donald J. Trump didn't say the non-existent word "sollest." The post which came from Biden-Harris is a grossly misleading, presumptively dishonest, version of what he actually said.
Below, you see a slightly fuller. more accurate transcript of the statement in question. To everyone who isn't dancing a dance, we'd have to say that Donald J. Trump's fuller statement is ringing out loud and quite clear:
Donald J. Trump, fuller statement:
We have become a drug-infested, crime-ridden nation which is incapable of solving even the smallest, the smallest problem. The simplest of problems we can no longer solve. We can't do anything. We are an institute in a powerful death penalty.
We will put this on. We have to bring in the death penalty if we want to stop the infestation of drugs coming into our country.
"What is Trump even saying here?" That's what Trump was saying.
Trump went on from there. He recommended instituting the death penalty for drug dealers. For the record, it's a type of penalty we've always opposed and still do.
(To watch Trump's actual statement, click here for the C-Span videotape of the nearly endless, 81-minute speech. The one tiny excerpt Biden-Harris posted was pulled from minute 72 of the nearly endless address.)
Above, we've shown you a fuller transcript of what Trump actually said in the passage the Biden camp "edited." We've shown you what he actually said—not what you can be told that he said, if Biden-Harris omits the first part of what he said, along with the middle part of what he said (with no sign that they've made an edit) and if they simply let the end of his statement fly off into the air.
Assuming even minimal competence, the "transcript" that Kevin reposted is, plain and simple, dishonest. At this site, we used to call this sort of thing a "Maddow edit" back in the less than impressive old days.
Here are some questions about what Trump said:
Have we really become "a drug-infested, crime-ridden nation?" Based on everything we know, crime is currently trending back down, but the fentanyl crisis is quite real.
You can take your choice regarding the accuracy of that pair of claims. That said, here's the heart of what Trump said, and who can dispute the general accuracy of this unfortunate statement?
We have become a...nation which is incapable of solving even the smallest, the smallest problem. The simplest of problems we can no longer solve. We can't do anything.
To every person at last night's event, the Southern border would have leaped to mind when the candidate said that. As everyone knows, our tribe's cable news stars have spent the bulk of the past few years pretending that no such problem even exists.
Just with regard to that one state of affairs, who can doubt the accuracy of what Trump said? Who can doubt the accuracy of the claim that we have become a nation that can't solve the simplest problem?
Of course we've become a nation which can't solve the smallest problem! It isn't perfectly easy to dole out blame for that situation, but the accuracy of the basic statement is blindingly obvious.
Correction! The accuracy of the statement is plain until a gang of hacks at Biden-Harris come along and run a scam through the presentation of a doctored "quotation." We're ashamed of Kevin for reposting that garbage—and yes, that clownishly doctored "quotation" does have the horrible feel of a new blue tribe "ghost dance."
(For background on the tragic history of the ghost dance, see yesterday's report.)
Full disclosure! Joe and Mika were all in on this new dance today. Let us explain what is happening:
Trump has been making crazy statements for at least the past nine years. We're starting with the role at the mother of all birthers, then moving on from there.
His claims about Campaign 2020 have also been crazy—and they've been so for the past four years. But our profoundly flawed blue elites don't know how to speak to The Others about that, and so the useless children at Biden-Harris have decided to con you with this.
The useless children at Biden-Harris may not be the brightest. Just last week, they had to apologize for their stupid post mocking the persistently NeverTrump Asa Hutchinson when he left the GOP race.
Their post was Pure Stupid all the way down, and someone made them apologize. That said, our blue elites have constantly failed us, for decades—and now, the children over at Biden-Harris have settled on this:
We don't know how to speak to voters about the craziness of Trump's substantive claims or his values. So we'll do this instead—we'll seize on occasional slips of the tongue. We'll even invent slips of the tongue when we actually have to.
In this case, someone found or invented a slip of the tongue at the 71st minute of an 82-minute speech. They then doctored the "transcript" of what was said, and they tweeted they that out, thereby suggesting or saying that, on nights like this, Trump "can barely string two sentences together."
Sad! One last point about Trump:
Back at the time of his E. Jean Carroll deposition, it seemed to us that a fact became fairly well established. According to reporting at Salon, Donald J. Trump needs glasses but is too vain to wear them in public—and so, just as Biden sometimes stutters, Trump sometimes has trouble reading text off a teleprompter.
He was plainly reading off prompter when he delivered that statement last night. We'll guess that the jumble in the middle of that fuller passage may have resulted from that.
That would be a guess. What follows isn't a guess:
Biden-Harris is now tweeting out doctored, DeepFake-adjacent "quotes." It's sad that our tribe has been reduced to the point where we feel that this is the only way we can campaign or fight.
It's sad, but it's unmistakable.
At any rate, the transcript of that "quotation" from Trump is, at its heart, a Fake. Also, never doubt this:
We have become a small, pitiful nation "which is incapable of solving even the smallest problem." Everybody knows that's true—and in our view, a lot of that stems from our blue tribe's unintelligent behavior over the past many years, though your assessments may differ.
In our view, Donald J. Trump is almost surely (severely) mentally ill. What's our self-impressed blue tribe's excuse as we start to embroil ourselves in this latest unpromising dance?
Tomorrow: Sound advice, much too late
ReplyDelete"Simple message: It's Trump who's losing his mental acuity! No way is it Joe Biden!"
Duh. In other words: the bosses inside your silo are shitting bricks. Panicking.
What's so bad about having a rapist represent the country?
DeleteA rapist would be a good representative.
DeletePerhaps only Bob could look at the Carrol affair and find a reason to bolster Trump’s credibility.
DeleteWhen Trump lies, he's a terrible person. When the Biden campaign lies...look a squirrel!
ReplyDeleteThey weren't lying. They were narrowly focused on his language mistakes.
DeleteYou place those mistakes into a largest context and you can make sense of them, but you have to change them slightly to force them into the larger meaning, because he did not speak clearly in either the short or the long clip.
Trump mentions the death penalty before he talks about the need for harsh enforcement. He does that because he has talked about it so many different times that he has lost the sense of time and place in his current speech. He doesn't know that he is saying things out of sequence. He says, in the longer clip:
"We can't do anything. We are an institute in a powerful death penalty. We will put this on...
None of that makes any sense until a few sentences later when he says we have to crack down on drug dealers. When he finally says that, you can go back and figure out what Trump meant, but listeners are not reading on paper. They hear this and don't know what the hell he means because they haven't yet gotten to the later sentences that make it all clearer.
When Somerby shows us the entire sequence and we read the last few sentences and nod and say, yes it is perfectly clear, he is playing a trick on us, because Trump's real time listeners didn't have that clue until Trump actually said those later words. And he makes no sense at all in the middle of that extended passage. None.
The Biden campaign is NOT lying about Trump's inability to make sense. That we can go back and figure out what he meant, does not excuse the incoherence of his actual statements. It is almost as if he is performing by rote and not listening to himself speak, but that is no excuse because he has been campaigning since 2015, and as an actor spoke rote lines with meaning on his TV show. That he cannot do this now is a sign of deterioration in his ability to speak extemporaneously. And it is fair for Biden to point it out.
In fact, it is right for Biden to campaign aggressively because Trump is his opponent in a presidential race. Why should he go easy on Trump when Trump regularly mocks him by portraying an old man on stage, confused and staggering around and calling that Biden? And when we point this out, David, it is...look a squirrel!
I mostly agreed with you @1:58. It's right for Biden to campaign aggressively.
DeleteHowever, what do you mean by "aggressively"? Slandering his opponent? OK with me. Flat out lying? That's OK too, if he can get away with it. But, let's be honest here with each other on this blog. Both campaigns ARE outright lying.
See the comment below about Somerby's misrepresentation of what Biden-Harris sent out.
DeleteDavid bucks goats. See? Lying is OK.
DeleteDavid, what kind of dumb bastard keeps stepping on the same rake and slamming it into his pasty makeup caked face? I prefer presidents who aren't dumb motherfuckers like your orange Jesus. How many times is he going to let E.J. Carroll pick his pocket? LOL!!!
DeleteYou know what I mean, David. I really don't want that dumb bastard watching over my tax dollars if that is how he takes care of his own money.
DeleteWhen Trump lies he is speaking. All the hoopla over saying Haley on 1/6 instead of.Pelosi, but what troubles me is he always gets away with shit talking. She was in charge of security that day. Bullshit. I offered her 10,000 people men, troops, complete bullshit. You know they covered everything up
DeleteWTF he even talking about the brain dead lying twerp.
Pelosi was indeed in charge of security. There is a large contingent of Capital Police whose job it is to defend Congress. The Capital Police report to the Speaker of the House. The Capitol Police has over 2,100 officers and civilian staff, according to its website.
DeleteIMO it's reasonable to think Pelosi ought to have called on the Capitol Police to quell the riot. on 1/6.
Anyone can look up the 1/6 testimony. Nikki Haley was not involved.
DeleteDavid, what riot? Patriotic Americans wanted an honest election. Now Biden and the deep state are holding them as hostages.
DeletePelosi was indeed in charge of security.
DeleteAs usual, you're full of shit, David.
The Capital Police report to the Speaker of the House.
You're full of shit, David.
But that's wrong. The Capitol Police are overseen by a number of entities and individuals, none of whom are Pelosi.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/07/27/fact-check-nancy-pelosi-isnt-in-charge-capitol-police/8082088002/
did you enjoy the orange abomination sitting on his fat useless ass, watching the carnage on tv and throwing his burgers at the wall?
IMO it's reasonable to think Pelosi ought to have called on the Capitol Police to quell the riot. on 1/6.
That's because you're a fucking idiot, David.
Delete"The Capitol Police are overseen by a number of entities and individuals, none of whom are Pelosi."
It's odd, then, that, according to the capitol police chief, she managed to block his request for national guard.
Perhaps she should be indicted. Oh, wait, she is a Democrat. Never mind.
So Pelosi is also in charge of the National Guard, huh magat?
DeleteIt's too bad Donald J Chickenshit was too chickenshit to testify to any of this under oath to the committee. right magat?
AP fact check rates GOP claim Pelosi blocked National Guard on Jan. 6 ‘false’
DeleteOh, damn, looks like orange Jesus lied again.
For alternatively-abled idiot-moonbats there are videos where the capitol police chief says that Pelosi blocked his request for national guard.
DeleteBig Coward donald J Chickenshit is brave and full of bluster when talking to an audience of his cult followers, but when the rubber hits the road, the Commander-In-Chief runs to hide behind a lady's skirt. It's funny how you magats never notice this.
DeleteTrump insisted the stock market would have tanked by now. Yet some how the exact opposite happened. Does that count as a
ReplyDeleteproblem solved? How about the utter lack
of progress on the infrastructure? That would
count to some of us as a problem solved.
The endless quagmire of Afghanistan kind
of looked like a problem to me. A bitter resolution to be sure, but it has been solved.
The problem of the the Presidents kids working
out billion dollar pay outs from their jobs in the White House seems to have been resolved. While Bob was concerned about President Biden reigning his son in, he had no time to even
acknowledge Jarardgate.
To cut the bullshit, Trump has made some sad but hilarious boners of late that might indeed suggest he is getting worse. But Sims’s Bob didn’t want to hear about the Jan 6 committee ( unfair to Republicans (?!)), he might not know that neither Nancy or Nikki bear the blame.
Seriously Bob, go f@ck yourself.
Afghanistan is going through a child labor boon with America's weapons pointed at them and nowhere near a resolution of America's stated goal of undermining a place for terror or uplifting human rights.
DeleteJust because we did something doesn't mean we did it well.
6:13,
DeleteDo you think staying another twenty years would have helped?
Think about it, David. If they are dying in the river and the border patrol hauls them out and sends them back, how exactly are they "sneaking in" undetected? The border patrol had to watch them drown because they were unable to cut the barbed wire keeping them from rescuing those people, who were in plain sight before them.
ReplyDeleteThe latest ruling says, no more watching people drown until the court has figured out its ruling. It is not saying to let anyone in or to change immigration policy. It is saying, let the border patrol do its job. Sometimes that involves rescuing drowning people before sending them back.
You are correct DIC, immigrants are good for the nation. Biden should just grant them illegals amnesty ike St. Ronnie Reagan did. Also too, the Biden Admin is collecting much more folks at the border than under Trump. Also, do you support Republicans refusing to fund border bills to help them win on this crisis in November? What a bunch of jaggoffs.
ReplyDeleteOver a period of time, having a racist, grifting, self-professed sexual predator as President changes the nature and values of the country.
ReplyDeleteBe honest, David. Do you want changes to the nature and values of the country, or don't you?
Somerby himself is dishonest about what Trump said. For one thing, his quote of what Harris-Biden provided in their tweet is incorrect. They shortened the words at the top of the tweet because tweets are limited in length. But they provided a clip of Trump speaking and it was not edited as Somerby says. Here is what it actually says:
ReplyDeleteSomerby's version:
"In full, its transcript quotes Trump saying this, with punctuation and signs of edits helpfully washed away:
Transcript from Biden-Harris HQ:
Trump: Which is incapable of solvin’ even the sollest problem. We are an institute in a powerful death penalty. We will put this on
(Closing punctuation omitted.)
Here is what Trump actually said, which is obvious simply by playing the clip linked by Harris-Biden:
Which is incapable of solvin’ even the sollest, smallest problem. The simplest of problems we can no longer solve. We can't do anything. We are an institute in a powerful death penalty. We will put this on... clip ends
So, we know from listening to Trump that he did indeed say sollest (or swollest) and immediately corrected it to smallest, repeating the word correctly the second time. Claiming he did not say sollest is dishonest. But leaving out the repetitive claim that we can't do anything is wrong of Somerby because it bolsters his claim that Biden-Harris deliberately shortened the clip, when these additional sentences are there for anyone to hear Trump say.
Somerby is manufacturing a grievance by himself omitting accurate info about what Biden-Harris sent out, and making it appear they were misquoting Trump (although how that is possible when the intact clip is presented by Biden-Harris, Somerby doesn't explain. Somerby's confusion arises because he assumed a limited tweet was intended as a transcript, when it merely emphasized the point of greatest confusion in Trump's statement, as it had to do given the limited space allowed by a tweet.
All Somerby had to do was play the clip of Trump speaking. If he didn't do that, he is derelect. If he did do it and then misrepresented the Biden-Harris tweet, that is worse. But neither situation is good, and it is wrong to Somerby to go off half-cocked on a diatribe against Biden-Harris when he doesn't understand the situation at all. Why would he do that? Because he is eager to embarrass Biden-Harris and will even make up a complaint if he has to.
And no, this has nothing to do with the Lakota ghost dance, but Somerby also doesn't care whether he tramples all over religious practices of other people, as long as he can say something negative about liberals.
Needless to say, this is not Somerby's finest moment.
This is Bob’s phoniest tantrum since “legitimate political discourse.” Nice to be sent over to Drum though.,Bob would never mention what Kevin says about Comer, since he has signed off on Huntergate.
DeleteDrum also made an inaccurate claim yesterday about Bill Barr. He accused Barr of "famously" releasing a deceptive insta-summary of the Mueller investigation. Actually, nothing Barr said in the memo was deceptive. That the memo was deceptive is - it's sad to say - a propagandistic story. It's been thrown around so often in liberal circles and comment sections like his and like this one that people think it's as true as the day is long. People think suggesting otherwise is absolutely insane. But then when I asked to show what the lie is, they cannot do it - because there isn't one. It's a made up story.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't occur to them that powerful institutions, in the government and the media for instance, promulgated the idea that Barr's letter was deceptive. Probably because, after doing so much accusing of Trump colluding with Russia, they wanted to lessen the blow of the report itself which did not confirm any of their significant accusations against Trump.
We can see how the others get played but it's really hard to see how we get played. And a lot of us don't even consider that it's even possible!
And getting Mueller himself to call out Barr was the chef's kiss.
DeleteThat doesn't make the Barr memo OK. Mueller himself claimed that the Barr memo omitted context and substance from his report, that created confusion about the report's findings.
Deletehttps://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/mueller-told-ag-barr-his-short-summary-special-counsel-report-n1000441
"WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday sharply rebuked Attorney General William Barr’s handling of the special counsel’s Russia report, saying Barr had made “misleading public statements” to spin the investigation’s findings in favor of President Donald Trump and had shown a “lack of candor.”
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton delivered the criticism in a 23-page order in which he directed the Justice Department to provide him with an unredacted version of the report so that he could decide if any additional information from the document could be publicly disclosed.
The scolding was unusually blunt, with Walton saying Barr had appeared to make a “calculated attempt” to influence public opinion about the report in ways favorable to Trump. The rebuke tapped into lingering criticism of Barr, from Democrats in Congress and special counsel Robert Mueller himself, that he had misrepresented some of the investigation’s most damning findings."
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-ap-top-news-politics-russia-reggie-walton-fe8eee387b53888c478a24021fc101aa
It is, of course, the Right who doggedly talks nonsense about Trump’s first Impeachment and Barr’s sad part in it. The problem was the presentation, when the Dems did better on Jan 6, Bob faltered, and then wouldn’t talk about it anymore.
DeleteWhat is the lie? What was deceptive?
Delete3:03 Mueller is also quoted at the same time as saying - "nothing in the Attorney General's March 24 letter was inaccurate or misleading".
Deletehttps://www.npr.org/2019/04/30/718883130/mueller-complained-that-barr-summary-of-trump-russia-probe-lacked-context
It may not make the Barr memo OK okay but it doesn't mean we can make a false claim and say that it was deceptive or a lie.
That is the issue. It's more evidence to back up what Bob is saying here about "our blue tribe's unintelligent behavior".
There's nothing at all in the Barr memo that is deceptive or a lie. But even Kevin Drum thinks that there is!
DeleteWhy?
Why do we think and say the Barr memo was deceptive?
"Why?"
DeleteI think the main purpose of dumb propaganda is not necessarily to recruit new followers, but rather to improve the morale of the current ones. To avoid losing them. That's why it's so dodgy and ubiquitous.
It's true that the followers want to be lied to. A lot of them swim in a huge pool of confirmation biased propaganda all day long ... without ever coming out. Every day for years and years. You see the affects of it here in comments. It happens on the right in the same extreme ways. So crazy.
Deleteaffects—> effects
DeleteThank you. Effects. You see the effects of a non-stop diet of confirmation biased propaganda here in comments.
Deleteeg: Look! Trump's kids got "billion dollar pay outs"!!!
DeleteThe truth does. not. matter. They want to be lied to.
Most likely, most of them are not the effects. They're bots, not followers..
Delete#themoreyouknow
Delete5:00 what do you mean?
DeleteThey want to be lied to.
DeleteThe media obliges them, by telling them that Republican voters are economically anxious, and not just a shit pile of bigots.
Why would they want to be told the voters are economically anxious and not just bigots? Why would they prefer the economically anxious lie over the bigoted lie?
Delete(Anyone who would offer a reductive oversimplification like the one you describe is lying to you, and anyone that would believe such an oversimplification is an imbecile.)
But why would they want to be told the voters are economically anxious and not just bigots?
Bigots know it is bad to be a bigot. They prefer to conceal that disgrace from themselves and others who may judge them.
DeletePerhaps you're correct, 10:20, that the theory about them wanting to be lied to is just bullshit. It wouldn't be the first (or one of the first millionth) time Right-wingers lied through their teeth to disparage Democratic voters.
DeleteNone of you comments make sense. You're an idiot.
DeleteI’m not an idiot. You’re an idiot.
DeleteNorman Jewison has died.
ReplyDeleteEveryone who has walked this earth, who is not currently alive, is dead. We will all die when our time comes. So what?
DeleteAnd then he woke up from the nightmare and hugged his family in thanks
Delete"At this site, we used to call this sort of thing a "Maddow edit" back in the less than impressive old days."
ReplyDeleteSomerby used to get those Maddow edits wrong too, manufacturing non-existent problems so he could say something negative about her.
Somerby forgot to mention the part of Trump’s speech where he quotes himself then refers to himself in third person, as Donald Trump.
DeleteBiden-Harris tweeted about that one too.
I won three Emmies playing Grandma Walton. I am Ellen Corby.
ReplyDeleteLoved your work in “It’s a Wonderful Life”, playing old before you really were!
DeleteThat’s so long ago, I forgot all about it. I was uncredited.
DeleteYour bit in “Ghost and Mr. Chicken” reminds me of Bob testifying for Trump.
DeleteI was happy to work under Alan Rafkin’s direction.
DeleteLetting Jewish people in changed the country. For the better.
ReplyDeleteJesus Christ. The country is literally on the brink of disaster, and how is Somerby using the only leverage he has? Calling out an insignificant instance of dishonesty by the only people who have a chance of saving us from that disaster.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, because of the "literal" position you see us in, these presumable saviors are beyond criticism?
DeleteWhat is the exact level of crisis at which people could resume criticizing them?
How exactly is that level measured? Who does the measuring?
The critical level is Level VII. The Crisis Committee measures it.
DeleteSomewhere, Howard Dean is laughing.
ReplyDeleteLong-time readers might recall Our Host's many diatribes against those in media who endlessly replayed the Dean Scream. The sad episode ended a promising political career.
Now just imagine if any candidate--one NOT named Trump--offered a presentation like the one we see in this video. No other pol would be spared a long, contemplatie evaluation of his sanity. Dean was craaaazy, they said. Trump? Meh. Another day.
Conservatives are creating a new elite with the fear of refugees. It's hard to say this in media because guess what, they want to be their own elite too!
ReplyDeleteRefugee status is just as rotten to discriminate against as skin color and gender.
It's a shame that Biden is getting so Trumpian on the border rather than admit neoliberalism failed the world and the only place left to survive for many victims uses white supremacist militias on its border death traps.
Blue and red elites are afraid with Joe Southerner resisting capitalism with Jose Mexico. The middle class and servant class aren't supposed to like each other.
Don't worry: Mr. Biden's wars have been creating more refugees every day.
ReplyDeleteYou should be happy.
If you can't vote for Putin, do the next best thing. Vote for a Republican.
ReplyDeleteIt's no wonder free-market Libertarians support open borders.
ReplyDeleteRight wing Libertarians change their tune about big government when it comes to enforcing racist borders. They love to stereotype and prescribe violence.
ReplyDeleteThe word libertarian was stolen by the conservative elite from the left to create more Republicans. Previously there were no right wing Libertarians. There were libertarian socialist labor union movements .