I finally watched the CNN interview where Anderson Cooper asked Haley Stevens questions o’ why she switched to endorsing the Republican & blinking in befuddlement as she babbled nonanswers — beyond “anger” & “lack of kindness” — & it was pretty funny. What shocked me the most was the twist Cooper brought up, which was that Haley praised El-Sayed for disavowing the “offensive ad”, which seems to back up the accusation that this was a pettier case o’ her just being pissed she wasn’t invited to some event.
Also, I love it when she says, “Look, I appreciate all the introspection in how I make decisions…”, blissfully unaware that “introspection” is done by oneself, not other people. I think the last thing most people would accuse Stevens o’ was engaging in the dark arts o’ introspection. & props for the quick jab Cooper made when Stevens babbled on ’bout having an incredible team in response to him bringing up her team resigning in anger @ her endorsement: “¿Do you still have them?”.
Debbie Dingell, who came on after Stevens, does not agree with my general assessment; her review: “That was 1 of the most painful interviews I have ever watched”.
& then the stars have aligned & we have our ol’ friend Carville dunking on her in the only way he knows how: blabbering incoherently. @ 1st I thought this short was edited by a troll to make him look bad, but then noticed it’s the same YouTube channel as the other videos from people who work with him — so, no, that’s just him. He has a much mo’ interesting theory ’bout what caused Stevens to switch than Cooper’s boring idea that ’twas petty revenge for not inviting her to a party: she did it for an extra cheeseburger. See, according to Carville, El-Sayed offered her only 1 cheeseburger, while Rogers offered her 2, & she couldn’t turn down the offer for another cheeseburger.
Another funny story I’ve read ’bout is a Republican senator in Kansas, Roger Marshall, running for re-election deciding ’twould be a great idea to record an ad defending himself gainst attacks that as a doctor he sued several patients for medical debts, — debts for which he charged a high 18% interest — leading some to be arrested & some to have their wages & bank deposits garnished. This by itself is probably common — & in the low standards o’ today, being legally greedy is a step up for Republicans who usually outright break the law to suck money out o’ people — & not all the crazy by itself; what is funny is the way Marshall insisted on defending himself, which was essentially saying, “well, yes, I did do all this; but I needed the money”, — tho the Kansas City Star article quotes a health law expert who notes that many doctors don’t do these, since doctors are hardly making minimum wage — while cosplaying in a country shirt & leaning on a wooden fence as if he’s pretending to be 1 o’ the Waltons. His campaign, logically, tried to stop this ad from running, but Marshall insisted that his douchebaggery be heard. E’en funnier, Trump does a better job o’ defending him than his own ad the classic Trump way, by lying & making up some nonsense ’bout Marshall being legally obligated to pursue his debtors.
Both FAIR & Common Dreams have been dunking on The New York Times for making a big deal ’bout Democrats engaging in the 1 dirty trick they’ve engaged in this decade — a’least gainst Republicans — doing the ol’ “find someone with a similar name to another candidate to trick dumb voters” trick that’s done in many places. S’posedly ’twas done in the 2024 governor’s election in Washington state with the candidate most people thought would win — & who did win — Bob Ferguson, but I don’t remember any other Fergusons when I was voting. Because we need to be fair & balanced, we need to mention 1 dirty trick from each party: 1 o’ the millions the Republicans have done, & 1 o’ the maybe 10 Democrats have done. Unfortunately, for The New York Times & all the conservative shrieks heard up the Manhattan from Wall Street Journal & The National Review, left-leaning people are mo’ critical o’ Democrats being weenies who aren’t usually willing to do this shit & most reacted by going, “¡Bad-ass! ¡Finally!”, especially when conservatives are backing Trump threatening worse election meddling in response. It’s, ’course, not ideal that politicians are doing this kind o’ ratfucking & the US would, ’course, be a better place if we all joined hands & stuck dicks in each other’s bums, but pretty much e’eryone knows politics is too dirty for that, so, unsurprisingly, the rage is performative. If people can get o’er an attempted coup that set fire to the capitol, I doubt people will remember the legend o’ the spoiler candidate in Alaska.
If The New York Times were honest & had any real honor they could’ve used this to make a larger point ’bout how all o’ the ratfucking being done mostly by Republicans — who essentially codified the term in the 70s with Nixon — has led to a race to the bottom where politicians either need to stoop to such depths themselves or be crushed by those who are willing to; but as we’ve established time & time again, enlightened centrists are ne’er honest, because insisting gainst all evidence that 2 sides that are very different are the same requires lying.
