Wednesday Open Thread [7.20.16]

Reports are, from NBC, that two Republican contract speechwriters drafted a speech, and gave it to Melania and the campaign, and the speech she ended up delivering bared no resemblance to that speech. Paul Manafort continues to insist, as does Melania, that it was Melania that wrote the speech. If that is really true, it means two things: 1) the Trump campaign is more amateurish and incompetent than we could ever possibly imagine, and 2) Melania Trump is a liar and a plagiarist. Perhaps we should jail her immediately for theft, since that seems to be the Republican answer for everything these days.

Tuesday Open Thread [7.19.16]

I am away from my computer on business today, so this is all the open thread you are going to get unless Cassandra and others want to add to it, or you can add stuff yourself in the comments. But, my God, that first night. Either a speech sounded better in its original German, or it sounded better when Michelle Obama first delivered it. Jail Melania Trump for theft!
Social Media Links for 2016 Candidates

Social Media Links for 2016 Candidates

If you are candidate for office or an office holder in the 21st Century, you need to be present on the internet. You need to be present on social media. And you need to be active on these sites. If you are not, it is as if you do not exist. You could have 100 district offices and it would not make up for your lack of presence in the social media world. Come inside to see which candidates fail and which ones excel in this very basic form of constituent or voter outreach.

Monday Open Thread [7.18.16]

During their disaster of an interview on 60 Minutes last night that made Sarah Palin's appearance on the same program 8 years ago look thespian, Trump gave Leslie Stahl this shocking response when she asked him about his running mate Mike Pence's vote to give Bush the authority to invade Iraq. I honestly think Trump didn't know Pence voted for the war.
Lesley Stahl: But we did go to war, if you remember. We went to Iraq. Donald Trump: Yeah, you went to Iraq, but that was handled so badly. And that was a war-- by the way, that was a war that we shouldn't have entered because Iraq did not knock down--excuse me Lesley Stahl: Your running mate-- Donald Trump: Iraq did not-- Lesley Stahl: --voted for it. Donald Trump: I don't care. Lesley Stahl: What do you mean you don't care that he voted for? Donald Trump: It's a long time ago. And he voted that way and they were also misled. A lot of information was given to people. Lesley Stahl: But you've harped on this. Donald Trump: But I was against the war in Iraq from the beginning. Lesley Stahl: Yeah, but you've used that vote of Hillary's that was the same as Governor Pence as the example of her bad judgment. Donald Trump: Many people have, and frankly, I'm one of the few that was right on Iraq. Lesley Stahl: Yeah, but what about he-- Donald Trump: He's entitled to make a mistake every once in a while. Lesley Stahl: But she's not? OK, come on-- Donald Trump: But she's not-- Lesley Stahl: She's not? Donald Trump: No. She's not.
IOKIYAR in real time. Or a double standard being applied to a woman in real time. Or just plain hypocrisy. Take your pick.

Sunday Open Thread [7.17.16]

Ezra Klein says Donald Trump’s speech introducing Mike Pence showed why he shouldn’t be president.
I do not know how to explain what I just watched. It should be easy. Donald Trump introduced Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate. There it is. One sentence. Eleven words. But that doesn’t explain what happened any better than "I spent a few hours letting lysergic acid diethylamide mimic serotonin in my brain" explains an acid trip. What just happened was weird, and it was important. Back in May, EJ Dionne wrote that the hardest thing about covering Donald Trump would be "staying shocked." Watching him, day after day, week after week, month after month, the temptation would be to normalize his behavior, "to move Trump into the political mainstream." But today helped. Donald Trump’s introduction of Mike Pence was shocking. Forget the political mainstream. What happened today sat outside the mainstream for normal human behavior. [...] What started as farce continued as farce. Trump emerged without Pence. He spoke, alone, at a podium adorned with Trump’s name, but not Pence’s. And then Trump proceeded to talk about himself for 28 minutes. There is no other way to say this than to say it: it was the single most bizarre, impulsive, narcissistic performance I have ever seen from a major politician. There is no way I will be able to properly described Trump’s speech to you. You should really just go and watch it yourself.
In money race, the three main Congressional candidates all lead a category

In money race, the three main Congressional candidates all lead a category

Bryan Townsend has raised $531,644.82 for his Democratic Congressional primary campaign so far, as of the quarterly finance reporting period ending June 30. That tops Sean Barney's $418,205.04 and Lisa Blunt Rochester's $353,246.35. Meanwhile in the 2nd Quarter (from April 1 to June 30), Barney outraised Townsend and Rochester $210,307.29 to $175,971.44 and $138,353.98, respectively. Finally, in terms of cash on hand, Lisa Blunt Rochester leads the pack, with $320,257.32 to Barney's $278,623.81 and Townsend's $247,633.74. However, Lisa's lead in Cash on Hand is because she leads in another category: the candidate who has lent the most money to her own campaign. She has donated $178,900 of her own money to her campaign. So really, her actual Cash on Hand minus her loans is $141,357.32. But there is something interesting about Barney's money....

Saturday Open Thread [7.16.16]

Josh Marshall has four questions after the failure of the Turkey Coup.
One: Erdogan's government has been trending in an increasingly autocratic direction for years. There are many good things about the failure of this coup. But heads of state who find their fears or paranoias about conspiracies against their rule validated in bloody attempted coups do not tend to loosen their grip. Quite the opposite. The most predictable outcome of this coup is a deepening and tightening of Erdogan's hold on power. That's a big problem. Two: I'm curious what role the US and the EU and its member states played, if any, in how this crisis unfolded. All the key turning points could have happened entirely internal to Turkey. But maybe not. And if not, just how is important in understanding the current world picture - the relative balance of forces of cohesion and disintegration. Three: What's the fate of the fairly substantial number of members of the military who participated in this coup? This obviously goes to question one. Soldiers who conspire against a civilian government need to be punished. But Erdogan tends to overdue rather than underdo these things, to put it mildly. So I am curious to see whether some restraining forces can make their influence felt, which obviously goes to point two. Four: The obvious one. Why did this happen? What was the precipitating event, if there was one, or what were the goals? We don't seem to have a clear or good idea of either. Those will matter a great deal.

The Weekly Addresses

President Obama acknowledged that the aftermath of tragedies like we've seen in Dallas, Baton Rouge, and Minnesota, can leave us struggling to make sense of these events. Vice President Biden delivered last week's address and commemorated the lives of the five police officers who were killed and the seven people who were wounded in Dallas. Governor Markell honors the life of Tim McClanahan.