Althouse: At the Elephant and Donkey Café...

November 9, 2016

At the Elephant and Donkey Café...

... can we all please get along?

269 comments:

«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 269 of 269

HT said...: G'night everyone, but before I go, I want to say that I learned one very important lesson on this blog - and it was from Tim in Vermont.

You can bypass the clicking on the storefronts ID verifier thing by just going to straight publish. I knew this blog was good for something.; 11/9/16, 8:18 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Alabama born McConnell said through his barely opening mouth that the disputes will most definitely NOT happen in public.

Wonderful. They will be as transparent on their amply raucous, fractious bickering as was the politburo, then.

D.C. will just have to move the wall to a perimeter around the WH and Congress and wait for it to fall then. Which sounds like the point we'll have to wait for until true democracy returns.

How fitting.; 11/9/16, 8:23 PM
Captain Drano said...: Blogger n.n "The Pro-Choice Church, selective and opportunistic, unprincipled and vindictive has lost its patron Party. The Ass is braying a little quieter about its class diversity/wars, liberal fiscal schemes/welfare industry, progressive/illegal wars, immigration "reform"/crises, abortion rites/scientific mysticism, and Planned Parenthood/clinical cannibalism. Baby steps."

The Jesuits are in a tizzy, Planned Parenthood is "trending" on Twitter as they scaremonger stupid people into donating...all a very good sign! I lost it with a Jesuit "Priest" and laid some pretty raw responses on him, still feeling pretty good about it, though I probably need to revisit my writings and see if they are meet confession-level disrespect. (One retort ended with an allcap-scream "Get out of my church")

Anyhow, I am thrilled for my country with the outcome of this election.; 11/9/16, 8:30 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: All these people writing that diversity is so important to then but wishing they could move to places where almost everyone is white. Seems like diversity might not be so important to them.

You know who does move to foreign places to live out their lives with people of races or cultures different from their own? (Different from their own until they adopt them as their own anyway.)

Missionaries.; 11/9/16, 8:32 PM
Michael K said...: "How about if we just give them L.A., San Fran, Sacramento and Berkeley? The rest of California is red."

Sounds good to me but I'm off to Arizona soon and could not care less.; 11/9/16, 8:36 PM
heyboom said...: Dr. K,

Are you retiring? You're obviously not teaching at Keck anymore. Best wishes to you.; 11/9/16, 8:38 PM
rehajm said...: All these people writing that diversity is so important to then but wishing they could move to places where almost everyone is white. Seems like diversity might not be so important to them.

It's as if they're using righteousness to hide selfish political goals.; 11/9/16, 8:48 PM
rehajm said...: All these people writing that diversity is so important to then but wishing they could move to places where almost everyone is white. Seems like diversity might not be so important to them.

It's as if they're using righteousness to hide selfish political goals.; 11/9/16, 8:49 PM
Drago said...: Rhythm and Balls: "Hillary won - as far as voting numbers go. She just wasn't competent enough to figure out which states to win them in"

If this were a wide open national vote election than all strategies change. Trump certainly would have spent significant time getting out the vote in CA, NY, IL, etc. Places he rarely stopped in given the EV construct, further, he might have made much greater use of ad purchases and GOTV efforts instead of pursuing a tight, targeted strategy (as KellyAnne Conway described earlier today).; 11/9/16, 8:57 PM
Drago said...: Again, I have to say I am quite pleased the national dems adopted the Shiloh/Unknown/Once Bitten mentality and never relinquished it.

Had the dems adopted a R&B/Michael Moore perspective they would have changed their tactics significantly and probably won.; 11/9/16, 8:58 PM
Drago said...: R&B: "Wonderful. They will be as transparent on their amply raucous, fractious bickering as was the politburo, then."

Not to worry! We will simply hire all those retired Kremlinologists (since the 80's called and the decade wants "back in") to examine where everyone is standing in the pictures to determine relative position within the caucus.; 11/9/16, 9:04 PM
Known Unknown said...: "It's also extremely white."

Except for the isolated and segregated First Nations kids offing themselves in tragic suicide pacts. Canada has problems, too!; 11/9/16, 9:08 PM
Big Mike said...: ... can we all please get along?

At this point it doesn't look like it, no. People who spent the past 18 months immersed in the "inevitably" of Hillary Clinton, who mistakenly believed in their inherent mental superiority, who even more mistakenly believed that the way to persuade Trump voters to their side was to sneer at them and belittle their legitimate concerns, these people are collectively throwing a major temper tantrum. When they read "half of America is about to get gut-punched, it never seems to have crossed their minds that it might be their gut getting punched and now they're acting like two year olds (I include Justice Ginsburg donning her "dissent" collar every bit as much as I include the courageously anonymous student who sprayed "F*** You" on an American flag).

So no. Not happening.; 11/9/16, 9:08 PM
StephenFearby said...: Reason.com Hit & Miss Blog
Robby Soave:

Trump Won Because Leftist Political Correctness Inspired a Terrifying Backlash

What every liberal who didn't see this coming needs to understand

"Many will say Trump won because he successfully capitalized on blue collar workers' anxieties about immigration and globalization. Others will say he won because America rejected a deeply unpopular alternative. Still others will say the country is simply racist to its core."

"...Trump won because of a cultural issue that flies under the radar and remains stubbornly difficult to define, but is nevertheless hugely important to a great number of Americans: political correctness.

More specifically, Trump won because he convinced a great number of Americans that he would destroy political correctness."

'...Trump has done to America what Yiannopoulos did to campus. This is a view Yiannopoulos shares. When I spoke with him about Trump's success months ago, he told me, "Nobody votes for Trump or likes Trump on the basis of policy positions. That's a misunderstanding of what the Trump phenomenon is."

He described Trump as "an icon of irreverent resistance to political correctness." Correctly, I might add.'

http://reason.com/blog/2016/11/09/trump-won-because-leftist-political-corr; 11/9/16, 9:19 PM
n.n said...: Only China and India are more diverse than America at an estimated 1.3 and 1.2 billion coherent -- not so innocent -- clumps of cells... I mean people, respectively. If you classify them by their color, then diversity obviously plunges.

Which brings me to a noteworthy insight into diversity:

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Class diversity... One step forward. Two steps back.; 11/9/16, 9:25 PM
n.n said...: I believe that this is the first time a "Donald J. Trump" has been elected president in America. A historic occasion for diversity.; 11/9/16, 9:37 PM
Birches said...: So when do you think we find out about what is really wrong with Hillary?; 11/9/16, 9:47 PM
heyboom said...: Texting with my 24-year old daughter right now and she sent me a video of a #NotMyPresident protest march. Let's just say she finds them to be a bunch of idiots and sore losers.; 11/9/16, 10:03 PM
heyboom said...: I'm very proud of her as she is pretty much a lone voice in the wilderness in her circle of liberal friends. She is very informed, even taking in the opposition views and is not afraid to debate her positions.

She's also a budding entrepreneur who is starting a small retail business and was a big Trump admirer well before he decided to run for office.; 11/9/16, 10:11 PM
Alex said...: Tough titties libtards. The next 4 years is going to be the worst hell you've ever experienced!; 11/9/16, 10:17 PM
Qwinn said...: R&B:

"And a raging egomaniac at the top of it all - the likes of which we've never seen before."

Um. If raging egomania is what you're judging "we've never seen before"... have you even noticed the guy who's been at the top of it all for the last 8 years? The guy who injects references to himself hundreds of times in a 20 minute speech?; 11/9/16, 10:40 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: What are European universities like? Are they as babyish as ours have become?

I remember being furious about the Bush-Gore election in college. My poli sci teacher, who I am sure was liberal, merely smiled at all of us knowingly and went on with class. She appeared to have this crazy idea that our being disappointed was part of growing up.; 11/9/16, 10:48 PM
Darrell said...: The people here that were pieces of shit in victory are pieces of shit in defeat. There is a definite trend.; 11/9/16, 10:56 PM
narciso said...: well what do we have here,

https://medium.com/the-patriarch-tree/never-bet-against-the-patriarchy-kids-e37084472281#.ku6bxgdir; 11/9/16, 10:59 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: My son reports there was an anti-Trump "healing vigil" on the UDub campus this morning.

vs.

The Presidency, the House, the Senate, and soon, the Supreme Court.

Tread lightly, why?; 11/9/16, 11:54 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: The harsh, undemocratic, and totally politically incorrect reality is that when a huge part of the Democrat's popular vote total comes from welfare recipients, non-essential government workers, and other members of the non-producing classes, it doesn't really command any political heft after the votes are counted and the election lost. In theory the homeless pan-handler and the employed, tax-paying, homeowner have an equal say in a democracy. In practice, the homeowner can get anti-panhandling ordinances passed and the panhandler can go fuck himself. Harsh, as I said, but apart from moments of frenzied mob rule, it's a basic rule of human society.; 11/10/16, 12:32 AM
jaydub said...: After reading through the comments here, I would suggest that the answer to the original question, "... can we all please get along?" would be "not likely" as long as there are Shilohs and Unknowns in the mix.; 11/10/16, 1:13 AM
Darrell said...: Why are Arizona, Michigan and New Hampshire still not called???

Because the fraud is still percolating. You can't rush flavor. Or corruption.; 11/10/16, 1:54 AM
Etienne said...: Freeman Hunt said...What are European universities like?

The Europeans don't suffer under re-branded Amendments to the Constitution.

An interesting fact, is that almost all universities in Europe are members of the Bologna Process. Something the USA should consider joining/implementing.; 11/10/16, 2:01 AM
Achilles said...: Rhythm and Balls: "Hillary won - as far as voting numbers go. She just wasn't competent enough to figure out which states to win them in"

The popular vote is being represented as 59.8m to Hillary and 59.6m to Trump.

This includes a few million illegal votes in California, New York, Illinois, Florida and others. Virginia where Mcauliffe just illegaly restored the voting rights of 60,000 felons for example. We can't forget Obama imploring illegal voters to become citizens by voting.

The LAT/USC called it 47/43 in their poll. It was dead on... among legal voters. Drop 2 or 3 million off of Hillary's total in corrupt deep blue states and shazam you have a winner. Tough to poll people who are not supposed to vote.; 11/10/16, 2:25 AM
Achilles said...: coupe said...
Freeman Hunt said...What are European universities like?

The Europeans don't suffer under re-branded Amendments to the Constitution.

No first amendment. No second amendment etc. You see how universities act when they are theoretically constrained. There is no such constraint over there.

An interesting fact, is that almost all universities in Europe are members of the Bologna Process. Something the USA should consider joining/implementing.

The Europeans set up a caste system with their universities. There are literally 11 top tier universities and the other universities are organized similarly in levels below that. Funding per student is set based on your caste position. All top government positions are of course occupied by top tier graduates. You can imagine how nepotistic and socio-economically driven admissions are. They have token affirmative action minorities just like here though.; 11/10/16, 2:31 AM
Achilles said...: ... can we all please get along?

I am going to assume you lefties live by the golden rule. I assume that you want to be treated the same way you treated us.; 11/10/16, 2:34 AM
HT said...: How about if we just give them L.A., San Fran, Sacramento and Berkeley? The rest of California is red.
_____________

Is that what you really think?

http://www.cnn.com/election/results/states/california; 11/10/16, 4:41 AM
Jose_K said...: SCOTUS likes foreign law. The Counseil d´Etat just ruled:
"•Nativity scenes have a variety of meanings: they have a religious meaning but are also a decorative element during the end of the year holidays. Given this plurality of significations, the Conseil d’Etat rules that the display of Nativity scenes by a public authority in a public space is lawful, only if it has a cultural, artistic or festive purpose, but not if it expresses a public recognition or a preference for a religion."; 11/10/16, 5:08 AM
HT said...: Re: can't we all just get along

See: the last eight years of masterful undermining by the Republicans. And they said Trump was a repudiation of the establishment! He reaped their rewards, from the days of "You lie!" to every single bill introduced to repeal the ACA, Trump was the happy beneficiary. Is this the reason we see McConnell pushing back? Could be! (The other canard is that Trump beat the media...discuss at another time.) And Ryan lives to fight another day! (oh the arrows slung against him on this blog.)

So to get back to your question of can't we all just get along? That is the question. Will the white Democrats resist the urge to play along with the Republicans (white of course) in a temptingly dramatic intraracial struggle, in order to gain advantage? Is there another way to gain advantage? Or will the ruling Democrats accede to what the Republicans want to see if it's going to work? Is that what you mean by can't we all just get along? Follow us, and don't question us?

I am not sure. I see struggle ahead.; 11/10/16, 6:02 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: Huffpo: Reasons why Trump won the upper mid west. Not so much Trump love - many hated Hillary more.

““I hate her ― her lying, all the lies,” Dennis White, 48, said. He works in retail and told me that he had voted for Obama once. But he said he was disappointed with how the Obama presidency worked out: “gas prices went up, taxes went up, we got more and more in debt.”
When I mentioned questions about Trump’s temperament, he brushed them off. “I like his temperament,” White said. And as for Trump’s controversial statements, White said, “It shows he’s not just trying to get elected.”
Some Trump voters made blunter criticisms. Ken Lisiecki, 34, who works at a technology company, said he too was unenthusiastic about Trump ― but simply couldn’t stand Clinton. “I’d rather shove a wet noodle up a bobcat’s @ss than listen to another one of her speeches,” he said.”; 11/10/16, 6:09 AM
Anonymous said...: The struggle has just begun and yes it will be mighty.; 11/10/16, 6:26 AM
Anonymous said...: What they did to President Obama will come back to them in spades, shovels, truck loads. Mark my words, you haven't even scratched the surface of anger and resentment of the decent half of America. We fight, we don't fuck around.; 11/10/16, 6:28 AM
Michael K said...: "Tough to poll people who are not supposed to vote."

Agreed plus the NeverTrumpers who voted for pothead Johnson or Egg McMuffin or nobody. That is probably her margin of popular vote. The illegals are just dressing for the turkey.

California is threatening to secede. It's OK with me if I get over the border first.; 11/10/16, 6:30 AM
Sydney said...: What they did to President Obama will come back to them in spades...
What did they do to Obama? I must have missed it, unless you mean criticism.; 11/10/16, 6:40 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: What they did to President Obama will come back to them in spades, shovels, truck loads. Mark my words, you haven't even scratched the surface of anger and resentment of the decent half of America. We fight, we don't fuck around.

Can you elaborate?; 11/10/16, 6:43 AM
tim in vermont said...: Reuters try to figure out where they went wrong:

The Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation project projected Clinton to win the popular vote 45 percent to 42 percent, and gave her a 90 percent probability of winning the 270 electoral votes needed to secure the election. In the end, Clinton won the popular vote by 47.7 percent to 47.5 percent, by the latest count, and Trump could win the Electoral College by as many as 303 votes to Clinton’s 233 when the tally is final.

The state races were not akin to a string of coin tosses but more like 51 rolls of a set of weighted dice. In many states, it turned out, the side of the dice representing white voters in suburban and rural counties carried a heavier weight, and the side representing urbanites a lighter one.

Let's see what they could have learned by reading Althouse!

COLORADO: TIED
MICHIGAN: TIED
NEW HAMPSHIRE: TIED
NEVADA: TIED
PENNSYLVANIA: TIED

Any anybody with any knowledge of statistics knows that these aren't like independent coin tosses. They are linked more like dice loaded in the same way, it won't take a lot to move it one way or another and those states will likely move in unison.

tim in vermont

This is the main reason I don't trust climate models. Too many unsupported assumptions.; 11/10/16, 6:51 AM
Curious George said...: Well let's look at the Obama legacy:

Took office in 2009
Senate 57D 2I 41R
House 255D 179R

Leave office:
Senate 54R 46D -11
House 247R 186D -69

His major legislative accomplishment ObamaCare caused the big purge. Without it no way Trump wins. Biden was right, without knowing it. It was a big fucking deal.

And the best part is that it will be repealed.

He kicked immigration to the curb and ultimately had to use executive order. This too had a big part in Trumps win. And will disappear like a fart in the wind the day Trump takes office.

The courts did the gay rights shit.

He has no legacy. He has gutted his party. It will takes years to reverse the harm he has done to America. But at least he has provided the jump off point to repair. Hope the GOP doesn't fuck it up.; 11/10/16, 6:52 AM
tim in vermont said...: you haven't even scratched the surface of anger and resentment of the decent half of America.

This is why they want to get rid of the Electoral College, they want license to completely ignore half of the country. This is why the Founders wisely created it, to protect smaller states from the tyranny of the large states. They used to teach that in high school.; 11/10/16, 6:54 AM
tim in vermont said...: He[Obama] has gutted his party.

Maybe he slit it from asshole to gills, but it took the Clintons to really push the guts out into the plastic bucket.; 11/10/16, 6:57 AM
Rusty said...: known said...
What they did to President Obama will come back to them in spades, shovels, truck loads. Mark my words, you haven't even scratched the surface of anger and resentment of the decent half of America. We fight, we don't fuck around.

No you don't. You march around yelling and breaking things like a bunch of petulant five year olds. And I've got news for you. The decent half of America won.; 11/10/16, 6:57 AM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/10/16, 6:58 AM
Big Mike said...: @tim, yes on your mathematical analysis. But pity that Reuters can't even do simple arithmetic -- total electoral ores needs to equal 538.; 11/10/16, 7:00 AM
Anonymous said...: The DECENT half of America has always been the true winners. The DECENT half of America fights for what is right and good.
Trumpism/Fascism is not decent. Decent Americans fight back. It's only just begun.; 11/10/16, 7:01 AM
CWJ said...: HT wrote -

"See: the last eight years of masterful undermining by the Republicans. And they said Trump was a repudiation of the establishment! He reaped their rewards, from the days of "You lie!" to every single bill introduced to repeal the ACA, Trump was the happy beneficiary."

What incoherent nonsence is this? Undermining what exactly? And how are "You lie!" (He did and still does BTW) and introducing unsuccessful bills examples? Yeah masterful. Go back to bed you need more sleep.; 11/10/16, 7:01 AM
tim in vermont said...: BTW, the above statistical error applies to the hockey stick as well. Mann treated each individual year in his temp reconstruction as independent from the previous and next year, treated the temp series as similar to white noise, rather than autocorolated, red noise. This meant that his algorithm would produce hockey sticks almost guaranteed when married, as he did in an unsupported way, the the instrument measurements from the twentieth century. This was Steve McIntyre's insight.

I could explain it further if I though anybody cared to hear it, but basically, it is extremely easy to fool oneself, even if one does the math correctly. The math almost always has assumptions.; 11/10/16, 7:02 AM
Big Mike said...: Votes, not "ores." Inability to preview plus autocorrect sucks.; 11/10/16, 7:03 AM
Anonymous said...: Employ the Electoral College to Avoid a Trump Presidency

We have only begun to fight. You have no idea.; 11/10/16, 7:03 AM
tim in vermont said...: The problem is, Unknown, that Obama actually was lying when Joe Wilson couldn't take it anymore.

Another thing, Unknown, if you look at the polls, you will see that the movement to Trump happened before the FBI thing came out. What happened? People got their next year's cost for health insurance. Ours went up by 25%.; 11/10/16, 7:06 AM
tim in vermont said...: But instead of engaging and understanding, and possibly coming up with alternative strategies that will be more effective in winning over voters, she goes with anger. Good luck with that.; 11/10/16, 7:07 AM
tim in vermont said...: Here is Unknown's link in it's entirety

Because the Founders were aware of the inherent vice of tyranny in direct Democracy, they devised the so-called Electoral College to wrest the republic back from the "mischiefs of faction.";

James Madison defined faction as "a number of citizens whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community."

It is thusly incumbent on the present electors to remedy this existential imperilment to the Republic, moreover the planet, by choosing to elect Hillary R. Clinton to the Office of the President of the United States or any other such qualified candidate for that Office.

Who would have thunk that liberals would not "accept the election" and try to flip electors. Ha ha ha! You guys tried this with Bush! Guess what, we just had a national election, it overrules petitions.

But I know after all the gloating you did, the butt hurt is strong with you. Too bad. There is another election in two years.; 11/10/16, 7:11 AM
CWJ said...: "What they did to President Obama will come back to them in spades, shovels, truck loads."

I know many don't like him, including me, but what did "they" DO to Obama. For example, I just received notice that my hospital and doctor will no longer accept BC/BS plans bought on the exchange, but will still accept grandfathered plans (thank god). Seems Obama and the Democrats have DONE plenty. First with their super majority and then with Obama's executive orders.; 11/10/16, 7:13 AM
MayBee said...: And forgive me if foreign leaders don't know what to make of Trump. Obama's face was supposed to change the way the world worked. His apology tour was to make the world love us. His middle name was supposed to calm the ME.

And it seems to me he's a pretty alienated, disliked world leader. Even if you don't agree with that, you have to admit his foreign policy is screwed up. What world leaders seem to want to associate with him? Truedeau, I guess.; 11/10/16, 7:17 AM
Anonymous said...: CWJ: What incoherent nonsence is this?

It's HT. 'Nuff said.; 11/10/16, 7:19 AM
Pookie Number 2 said...: We have only begun to fight. You have no idea.

We have a pretty good idea. We fully expect the national version of the Madison bongo brigade to re-engage its compelling cadre of name-calling losers. Heck, you seem to be part of the effort.

It will be every bit as successful in flipping electors as it was in convincing voters.; 11/10/16, 8:21 AM
Night Owl said...: "What they did to President Obama will come back to them in spades..."

He was the most protected President ever. All of the media, and all of the elite institutions were in the tank for him throughout his presidency. Yeah, he had it so rough.

The American electorate knows what the left is capable of; we saw what you did under Bush. We saw what you did at Trump rallies, we see what you do today on the streets of major cities and on college campuses. And we are viscerally repelled.

You're a fool. You sow discord and hope to reap blood for nothing; for a vain, foolish belief that you are better than your imagined foes, the monsters that emerge from your psyche created from your irrational rage. I pity your kind.; 11/10/16, 8:32 AM
tim in vermont said...: If it was 269 to 269, and headed for the House, I would be more worried about flipping electors. They could maybe get a couple of fever swampers who would buy the above argument, but they need way too many.; 11/10/16, 8:33 AM
tim in vermont said...: "You have no idea."

Yeah, flipping electors is a truly original strategy, never tried before.; 11/10/16, 8:34 AM
Night Owl said...: "What they did to President Obama will come back to them in spades..."

He was the most protected President ever. All of the media, and all of the elite institutions were in the tank for him throughout his presidency. Yeah, he had it so rough.

The American electorate knows what the left is capable of; we saw what you did under Bush. We saw what you did at Trump rallies, we see what you do today on the streets of major cities and on college campuses. And we are viscerally repelled.

You're a fool. You sow discord and hope to reap blood for nothing; for a vain, foolish belief that you are better than your imagined foes, the monsters that emerge from your psyche created from your irrational rage. I pity your kind.; 11/10/16, 8:39 AM
Night Owl said...: (I guess blogger liked my previous comment since it posted it twice. Blogger has been screwy these past two weeks.); 11/10/16, 8:44 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: DECENT people don't call literally half of their fellow Americans indecent, you childish little twerp. Give me a break.; 11/10/16, 9:03 AM
Rick said...: Unknown said...
The DECENT half of America has always been the true winners. The DECENT half of America fights for what is right and good.
Trumpism/Fascism is not decent. Decent Americans fight back. It's only just begun.

I see she's on a three day bender. It's starting to get dangerous.; 11/10/16, 9:23 AM
mikee said...: No, we cannot get along, because opposition to individual rights and collectivism is the basis of the Democrat ideology, and there can be no compromise with such vileness.; 11/10/16, 12:34 PM
HT said...: After the 2008 election but before Obama and Biden took office “seven different Republican Senators” told him that “McConnell had demanded unified resistance.”

“The way it was characterized to me was: `For the next two years, we can’t let you succeed in anything. That’s our ticket to coming back,’ ” Biden says.

John Boehner on Obama’s agenda (2010): “We're going to do everything — and I mean everything we can do — to kill it, stop it, slow it down, whatever we can.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”; 11/10/16, 10:36 PM