Donald Trump: Come Kiss the Ring

You didn't read the article I linked to, did you?

That's covered. Guess where it came from?

 

Except I was referring to Hannity actually saying he was going to play the tape. A tape which didn't exist. Yet he kept saying he would play it.

 

Good column from Charles Blow on Ben Carson

Carson has a way of speaking in a flat, sing-song-y tone while flashing his toothy, 100-watt smile, that can be utterly disarming, if not completely charming.

His undeniable pedigree as an acclaimed pediatric neurosurgeon adds an air of gravitas to his nonsensical utterances and provides some cover for what can be poisonously harmful, over-the-line invectives.

Carson says in low register what others shout in anger, and he gets a bit of a pass because of the discordant message and method of delivery.

Just because a person is soft-spoken doesn’t mean that he is well-spoken.
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and

He has used the shallowness of race as a biological construct to disavow and diminish the depth of racism as a very real cultural construct.

And he makes the mistake many people do, of using his personal story of success as a societal prescription for all problems. I have always held that working hard and following the rules are their own reward, but I am not naïve enough to believe that personal behavior can completely countervail structural oppression.
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Carson, like a few of the candidates in this race, appears to have no idea why he's running or that he should be if people weren't trying to push him into the arena. If he did know, and he wasn't being propped up, he'd have better answers, I suspect.

His consistent ability to fall prey to such nonsense suggests a lack of preparation and seriousness for the craft. It suggests, too, that Carson expects others to understand what he means when he explains stuff like junk, perhaps because, for years, people have genuflected at the altar of him being a world-class doctor and made that allowance for him.

A world-class doctor has nothing to do with being a world-class statesman or stateswoman. The job appears to take more than Carson has in his rhetorical arsenal.

 

If you can give a good speech, you can be a good president.

 

Yes Baron, I understand that. But, where did word of this tape originate?

Answer: the Clinton Camp.

Yes, Hannity got drawn in -- by sources he had in the Clinton Camp.

It was Sid Blumenthal that put it out there:

According to John Heilemann and Mark Halperin in "Game Change," the most ludicrous "othering" theory that Clinton allies engaged in was that a tape existed, somewhere, of Michelle Obama denouncing "whitey" — and that Clinton herself believed it when consigliere Sid Blumenthal talked about it.

The Clinton campaign leaked to folks like Drudge and Hannity. Do you not understand that?

It's really funny to me too that Weigel gives Hillary the benefit of the doubt, assuming she was not complicit, even as supporters, including her most trusted supporter Blementhal, were putting this stuff out there. "They were furious!"

Especially since he doesn't know who leaked the turban photo to Drudge:

Three months later, when the Drudge Report claimed that a photo of Obama wearing a turban was sent from "stressed Clinton staffers," the Clinton campaign denounced it but didn't find a scalp.

It's ridiculous to think that didn't come from inside the campaign, and wasn't cleared from those running the campaign, including the candidate herself.

 

Carson has a way of speaking in a flat, sing-song-y tone while flashing his toothy, 100-watt smile, that can be utterly disarming, if not completely charming.

Jesus Charles, just call him a House N****r and be done with it.

 

@YF ... don't you know that Hillary isn't -- indeed can't be -- expected to be responsible for what her supporters do/think? Only one side of the political spectrum is held to that standard.

 

I think that's remarkably unfair of you.

A supposed strength of Carson is that he appears thoughtful with his speaking style, as opposed to, say, Christie, who thoughtfulness can be drowned out by his manner. And, in many arenas of life, I suspect Carson is thoughtful, if given the time to work out an answer that an introvert like him would give.

Carson is much more a scientist than he is anything else, and I'm guessing he'd prefer not to answer any kind of oddball questions like "Could a Muslim be president?" But you're going to deal with bigger rubes and blowhards than that in international relations.

 

I don't think that's what he is saying here at all. Carson seems measured and muted compared with the other GOP candidates. I think he completely lacks charisma.

 

Because Obama's connection to Ayers and Wright was remarkably ignored, eh?

This is dumb. Both sides are held accountable. Again and again. You're holding her accountable. Who are you, chopped liver? Who is Fox News? Some ugly fat boy at the middle school dance?

Hilary Clinton is one of the most examined, critiqued political people of the last half-century. A woman who's been called a "bitch" by some grandma on national TV, whose manner in a Chipotle is scrutinized, whose email grammar is questioned.

Let's not pretend she's been let off easy from anything.

 

Did you get hacked by Starman?

 

And as I recall that attention was considered terribly bad form -- indeed, it was racist!