MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2026
We never back down from a fight: Very early Sunday morning, we got extremely lucky here on this sprawling campus.
We'd already semi-watched some endless comments by the sitting president. He had delivered his endless remarks at a rally the day before.
As it supplied full videotape, C-Span summarized thusly:
OCTOBER 24, 2026
Campaign 2026
President Trump Speaks at GOP Midterm Rally in Perry, GA
President Donald Trump held a midterm rally for Georgia Republicans in Perry, GA. He claimed that crime had reduced in multiple cities including Memphis and Washington, D.C. since took office and touted other achievements of the administration. He spoke against Somali immigrants including Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and asked why the United States took "so many" immigrants from nations he deemed low-quality instead of "people from Norway, Sweden…Denmark?" He urged Georgians to elect U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) and oust Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), who he called "Pee-wee Herman."...
C-Span was being polite. You can watch the whole thing here.
(You won't read about it in the New York Times. But it seems that something is wrong with the sitting president, a human being whose public statements and global behaviors are making less and less sense.)
That endless stream of endless chatter had started at 3:39 a.m. We're not sure when we started watching, but the president's endless remarks seemed to go on forever.
At 5:19 a.m., a second event went to air. We were surprised by what we saw. With C-Span supplying the videotape, we thought we saw an emergence:
OCTOBER 24, 2026
Campaign 2026
Former President Obama Campaigns with Ohio Democratic Candidates in Cleveland
Former President Barack Obama, Ohio governor candidate Amy Acton (D), and U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown (D) spoke at a midterm rally in Cleveland. Acton and Brown discussed affordability and their respective opponents, governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (R) and Sen. John Husted (R). Obama then spoke about the importance of voting for Brown and Acton. He also discussed current Trump administration policies...
Candidate Acton spoke first. She spoke for 17 minutes.
We were surprised by her energetic, slightly hyper performance. With a bit of editing supplied by us, she started by saying this:
Eric and I want to thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for all the support, and all the love, you have shown us this past week, and every day on the trail.
Thank you. Thank you.
[CHEERS]
My name is Dr. Amy Acton—
[CHEERS]
I'm an Ohio girl through and through. I grew up in Youngstown.
[CHEERS]
It's the stuff of Bruce Springsteen songs...
We performed in Youngstown once. We have the scars to support this hopeful's fond assertion.
This emerging presence grew up there. She now explained what that meant:
When I grew up, we didn't know what party you were in. We knew what union you were in!
[CHEERS]
We knew what branch of the military you served in, we knew where you worshipped. We knew what civic groups you were in. But the biggest thing we knew was that you had one another's back, and if it weren't for the tough, deeply resilient community I had, I wouldn't be here today
They had my back when I needed it most...
They had her back when she needed it most? The audience knew what she was talking about on this particular day.
We'll show you more of this candidate's messaging as the week proceeds. Eventually, though, she said this, addressing her opponent:
In Ohio, we work hard and we watch out for one another. My opponent just doesn't get it.
Mr. Ramaswamy, you are not just out of touch, you are out for yourself and you're a danger to my state.
Apparently, there is no low to which you won't stoop. But look:
I'm a scrappy kid from Youngstown—
[CHEERS]
—and scrappy kids from Youngstown, we never back down from a fight!
Good grief! We've been waiting, and waiting and waiting, to see someone emerge from nowhere and start talking like that on the trail.
Tomorrow: C-Span caller speaks
ReplyDelete"Candidate Acton spoke first."
But she is a motherless child. And she didn't even graduate from the best school in the world, over in Geneva.
Which means that she is irreparably damaged, ruined. You told me that, Bob. You told me that many, many times over; making it The Truth. So, why would anyone listen to her?
Perhaps you are mocking, but Somerby refers to Acton as "hyper" which is not a positive, especially when referring to a woman (it evokes hysterical, the ultimate putdown of a woman trying to achieve anything important). Somerby could have left it at "energetic" but he didn't. Why?
DeleteCecelia will vote for Democrats this year. And in 2028.
ReplyDeleteAmy Acton called herself a girl.
ReplyDeleteNo, she called herself a scrappy young girl from Youngstown. She is referring to her past, when she was a girl. She is 61 yo now.
Delete“I’m an Ohio girl through and through.” Sounds like an assertion about the present.
DeleteIt is referring to her growing up in Ohio. That is what makes her an "Ohio girl," not standing up and talking in a campaign in Ohio.
DeleteThese nuances of speech may be difficult for non-native speaking trolls to grasp. Idioms are not meant to be read literally.
She is NOT saying "I am a sexist person who refers to myself using the same terms as condescending men because I do not respect my own achievements and wish to be diminished to the level of children, even when I speak about myself." Why would anyone say that in a campaign speech. Children don't vote, so she is not even courting the children's vote.
ReplyDelete"I'm an Ohio girl through and through. "
When you talk like this while running again a Hindu guy, it sounds a bit racist. Don't you think so, Bob?
It might be, except she also explains what she means by it in the part Somerby quotes. The subtext is about his attack on her, not his Hindu-ness.
DeleteNeither Amy nor Vivek descends from the indigenous people of Ohio.
DeleteWell, think of it this way: the indigenous people of Ohio are Indians, and so is Vivek. Ta-da!
DeleteI'm glad you are not going to vote in Ohio.
DeleteThe problem with Ramaswamy is that he is a Republican asshole, not that he is any sort of Indian. Or are you suggesting Trump should have deported him? He is a birthright citizen, born in Ohio. Yes, Trump wants to send guys like him back to wherever their parents came from, but the Supreme Court won't let him do that. If Ilhan Omar can be elected, so can Vivek, assuming he were even 1/10th as smart and hard-working as she is. I suspect he is not, based on his willingness to take the low road in this election.
DeleteIlhan is an immigrant. Vivek is a native.
DeleteNeither of Vivek's parents were citizens when he was born. That makes him a target of Trump's desire to cleanse America of immigrants, whether he was born here or not. Ilhan came to the US at age 12. She grew up here, just like he did. Her parents were immigrants, just like his were. Vivek Ramaswamy is just like some of the people being detained by ICE. It doesn't matter to them whether their detainees are citizens, if they have brown skin. He might eventually be released, but Ilhan wouldn't. Because of that 12 years she spent in Somalia as a child.
DeleteVivek is an accidental native. He didn't choose to be here -- his parents did that, both immigrants, just like Ilhan Omar's parents.
"Good grief! We've been waiting, and waiting and waiting, to see someone emerge from nowhere and start talking like that on the trail."
ReplyDeleteAmy Acton has not emerged from nowhere:
"
Medical and Public Health Career
• Academic & Non-Profit Roles: Taught at The Ohio State University College of Public Health and College of Medicine for 17 years, and worked at the Columbus Foundation as Vice President of Human:Kind and Director of Kind Columbus. She also served as CEO of the RAPID 5 nonprofit.
• Ohio Department of Health: Appointed in February 2019 by Republican Governor Mike DeWine as the first female physician to serve as Director of the Ohio Department of Health.
• COVID-19 Response: Led Ohio's early public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, earning national recognition.
• Awards: Received the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation Profile in Courage Award (2021), USA Today Woman of the Year for Ohio (2022), and the Columbus Foundation Spirit of Columbus Award (2020).
Perhaps Somerby thinks public service is only stuff like serving on an insurance commission or being state controller. It is possible to serve in public health, as El-Sayed did, gain visibility working to save people's lives during covid, and show leadership skills managing that emergency response.
Somerby doesn't know anything about her, so she has come from nowhere in his view, but why wouldn't he look up her background, instead of assuming she has none?
Vivek Ramaswamy has NO experience in public service whatsoever. He headed a biotech firm and an investment firm.
DeleteRepublicans seem to believe that making money and being rich, hanging out with other rich guys, is sufficient training to run the government. Look how Musk did with DOGE. Acton is most likely correct when she hints he doesn't know anything about the people of Ohio, but it isn't because of his heritage but his lack of experience serving anyone but his own greed.
"Somerby doesn't know anything about her, so she has come from nowhere in his view"
DeleteSomerby's meaning is plain. No non-Ohioan has heard of Amy Acton until the last few weeks because we follow national politics and not public health issues in a different state.
He cast no aspersions on her qualifications or achievements. Why pretend otherwise?
She is running for Governor of Ohio. She doesn't need to have a national reputation. I think that calling someone hyper is a put-down. I think that editing her speech without telling us how is a put-down. But saying she came out of nowhere clearly diminishes her accomplishments, which were considerable given that she ran the covid response for the state.
DeleteAs I said, Somerby could have looked up her bio and reported that here in his essay, instead of claiming that she "came from nowhere" which implies she has no qualifications to be running for governor. Words matter.
Think about what Somerby might have written about Acton if he liked her, then compare to what he did write.
DeleteWhy did Somerby do a bit of editing of her speech? Does Somerby not know how to indicate editing when quoting? Apparently not. I am curious about what he chose to leave out, and why, but he clearly doesn't want us to know or he would have included ellipses or a description. Instead he implies that she needed some editing to make her speech rise to Somerby's standards of a barn-burner, which he then self-praises.
ReplyDeleteThere is some irony in saying that now that he has edited Acton's speech, it is the kind of rip-roaring hyper-energetic arm-waving he has longing for:
"We've been waiting, and waiting and waiting, to see someone emerge from nowhere and start talking like that on the trail."
Good thing Acton had Somerby to do that editing for her!
You have to look at the incentive structures around the power dynamics.
DeleteTrump made a speech this weekend where he pointed out how smart Somalis are because they don't work but they all have a Mercedes Benz.
ReplyDeleteHe should have used the word "genius" to describe them.
Somerby discusses what Trump said:
ReplyDelete"He urged Georgians to elect U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) and oust Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), who he called "Pee-wee Herman."..."
Does Trump not understand that people like Pee-wee Herman? Even in Georgia. Paul Reubens died in 2023 but he is still a cult icon and nostalgic figure to older adults. This isn't the ridicule Trump thinks it is, unless Trump is just trying to call Ossoff gay. And then Trump no doubt dances to his YMCA theme song without a clue what that means as a self-own.
"Critics of President Donald Trump couldn't resist throwing jabs at the commander in chief after he devoted a Truth Social post of more than 1,300 words attacking HBO host and comedian Bill Maher." [Mediaite]
ReplyDeleteLoyalty only goes one way for Trump. Maher kept his side of the bargain, saying nice things about Trump, but that didn't protect him from Trump's wrath. It doesn't really matter though, since Maher has already received his Mark Twain award.