2:00PM Water Cooler 9/30/2016

By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

TPP/TTIP/TISA

“Donald Trump has [WTO] officials in Geneva running scared. Faced with the prospect of a U.S. president who stands against the open-market philosophies they have spent their careers promoting, top trade officials are in various states of denial about the election” [Politico]. Their careers. Oh, the humanity!

“‘I trust Hillary on this,’ Sen. Sherrod Brown said Thursday. “She will oppose [TPP] just as strongly on Nov. 9 as she does today. I trust her because, one, she understands the agreement.’ The Ohio lawmaker said Clinton crystallized her opposition by raising specific problems over what she views as overly permissive rules of origin for automobiles, non-binding currency provisions and the deal’s investor-state dispute settlement mechanism” [Politico].

“‘If we are going to have another discussion about trade, it would have to be led by whoever the next president is,’ [Mitch McConnell] the Kentucky Republican said, adding that subject is currently ‘politically toxic, and I don’t think the Congress is ready to tackle it in any positive way.'”

2016

Days until: 38.

Debate Wrapup

Next debate: Sunday, October 9.

“Most of the major pollsters still haven’t released post-debate polls. Although early evidence suggests a bounce for Clinton, upcoming polls might reveal that it was a mirage. If that ends up being the case, she will likely hold a small lead but that lead will not be safe. It’s also important to note that this a volatile contest. Seemingly random events (e.g. Trump’s controversial statements and Clinton’s ongoing email and ethical issues) have moved public opinion, and a large number of voters are undecided or choosing third party candidates. That means the polls could move more quickly in this race than in recent races. Note that this volatility cuts both ways — it gives Trump a greater opportunity to catch up to Clinton, but it also gives Clinton the chance to turn a small or decent lead into a solid win or even a landslide” [RealClearPolitics]. “Finally, it’s important to note one other feature of the historical data: Both candidates’ ability to move the polls diminishes as October wears on.”

“As to Monday’s debate, Hillary Clinton won. The story leading up to it was that she was frail, her health bad. Instead she was vibrant, confident, smiling and present. Sometimes when Mrs. Clinton speaks you sense she’s operating at a level of distraction, reviewing her performance in real time or thinking about dinner. Here her mind was on the mission. She did not fall into the hectoring cadence that is a harassment to the ear. She said nothing remotely interesting” Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, “The Politics of ‘The Shallows'”]. “Mr. Trump’s job was to leave you able to imagine him as president. You could have, but it would be a grumpy, grouchy president with thin skin. … She’ll probably overplay her hand. That’s what she does. … [T]he next week or so she’s on the upalator and he’s on the downalator. After that, we’ll see.”

“Trump: ‘Check out sex tape’ of former Miss Universe” [The Hill]. Boy, did Clinton get inside Trump’s head. Not a good look.

The Voters

“In the past 18 months I talked to three young presidential candidates—people running for president, real grown-ups—who, it was clear to me by the end of our conversations, had, in their understanding of modern American political history, seen the movie and not read the book. Two of them, I’ve come to know, can recite whole pages of dialogue from movies. (It is interesting to me that the movies our politicians have most memorized are “The Godfather” Parts I and II.)” I think Nooners has come up with the best factoid of the 2016 election, here.) [Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, “The Politics of ‘The Shallows'”].

“USA TODAY’s Editorial Board: Trump is ‘unfit for the presidency'” [USA Today]. But they don’t endorse Clinton. Tomorrow?

“That Seventh-Grade Bully Is Running for President” [Nicholas Kristoff, New York Times]. Of course, the idea that the Beltway, very much including Kristof, is high school, is a well-worn trope. The thing is, I genuinely don’t understand this Democrat mindset, this framing of everything as micro-aggression. Try it on any historical figure, and see if it works. “Mussolini was a bully.” Is that really a useful way to look at Mussolini? “The Emperor Hirohito was a bully.” Heck, forget utility, is it even sane? I’m tempted to regard the “bully” trope as a sop to the Democrat base of college administrators, who are greatly concerned with indoctrinating their frosh with the micro-aggression concept — not that there’s anything wrong with that — but that idea seems overly simplistic; this bizarre ideation is too pervasive. Oh, and it goes without saying that no white bourgeois feminist can ever be a bully.

“A record 40 per cent of Americans may cast their votes ahead of the 8 November election and in many states they have already started either requesting ballots or returning them completed” [Independent]. I think this is madness. What do we have a campaign for? “With each election, the numbers taking advantage of either early or absentee voting provisions grow bigger, with significant consequences for the campaigns. The more votes each side can bank in advance, the less hard they have to work to drive turnout on election day.” And: “The Hillary Clinton campaign is feeling buoyed by indications that Democrats are outpacing Republicans in early voting patterns in a few key swing states such as Florida and North Carolina.”

“A further question is how much staying power the third-party candidates—Gary Johnson, of the Libertarian Party, and Jill Stein, of the Green Party—will have. While Stein is but a blip, scoring at most three points in important states, Johnson, with the more well-known Bill Weld as his running mate, is on the ballot in all fifty states and could make the difference in such states as Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and New Hampshire. Johnson is known as a bit of an odd duck. … When confronted on Meet the Press with the fact that he couldn’t win but could affect the outcome, he replied with insouciance, “Some parties need wrecking” [Elizabeth Drew, New York Review of Books]. “The reckless egotism that leads some people to put themselves in a position to distort the outcome of a presidential race.” I love that “distort the outcome.” Drew’s decline — and NYRB’s decline — has become sadly evident. She can’t even pose as a distinterested observer, and that used to be her schtick. And the NYRB didn’t used to publish the openly hackish.

Swing States

“New polling indicates that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton received a sizeable bump in key battleground states after the first presidential debate. The majority of likely voters in all five swing states said that Clinton won in her first face-off with Republican nominee Donald Trump” [Opposing Views]. “On Sept. 29, new Public Policy Polling survey results found that Clinton is leading in Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The surveys were conducted on behalf on the nonpartisan VoteVets Action Fund.” PPP is a Democrat shop, however.

“Four polls released Friday show Clinton ahead in Florida, Michigan, Nevada, and New Hampshire in a race that includes Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein. The Nevada poll lists Independent candidate Darrell Castle and Rocky De La Fuente, who has no party affiliation, but not Stein” [Business Insider].

Realignment

“Americans will soon make their choice. It will be either Mr. Trump or Mrs. Clinton—experienced, forward-looking, indomitably determined and eminently sane. Her election alone is what stands between the American nation and the reign of the most unstable, proudly uninformed, psychologically unfit president ever to enter the White House” [Dorothy Rabinowitz, Wall Street Journal, “Hillary-Hatred Derangement Syndrome”]. Rabinowitz’s endorsement should set those millenial hearts aflutter! So much irony here, given how the Wall Street Journal’s nutball editorial page created hatred of the Clinton’s as a virtual asset class, and Rabinowitz apparently believes that Trump is less psychologically fit than Alzheimer’s victim Ronald Reagan.

Stats Watch

Personal Income and Outlays, August 2016: “August was a soft month for the consumer, both for income and especially for spending.” [Econoday]. And: “The headline data this month showed NO consumer expenditure growth. This is a negative for 3Q2016 GDP. Income growth was also anemic” [Econintersect]. “With consumer spending the only real engine in GDP, look for another downgrade of 3Q2016 GDP forecasts.”

Chicago Purchasing Managers Index, September 2016: “September has been a good month for the Chicago economy based on the PMI which rose 3.7 points to 54.2. Growth in new orders held steady at a moderate rate though backlog orders fell into contraction. Production, which had been soft, is very strong” [Econoday]. “[N]early 80 percent of the sample say the run-up to the presidential election is having no significant impact on business.” And: “The surprise was that the Chicago PMI employment component came in weak after coming in strong last month. Still, employment survey results seem never to match the employment data” [Econintersect].

Consumer Sentiment, September 2016: “showing strength,” above consensus [Econoday]. “The expectations component leads the report, up 4 points in the month to 82.7 and specifically reflecting confidence among higher income households.” But: “Up slightly,” no evidence of upward trend [Econintersect].

Rail: “It does appear that the downward slide in the one year rolling averages will pause shortly as the rate of increase in the rate of decline is becoming smaller” [Econintersect].

The Banks: “The countries where cash is on the verge of extinction” (Scandinavia and the Netherlands) [BBC]. “Swedish banks, he says, profit handsomely from charging transaction fees to retailers for card payments, amounting to millions of kronas annually for the banks, whereas there is no revenue generated on cash. This leaves banks little incentive to accept currency.” So going without cash is “safer and cleaner” only if you believe that rental extraction by the banks is safe and clean.

Supply Chain: Edward Humes has four basic themes within his book, Door to Door [DC Velocity].

  1. Our everyday products have gigantic transportation footprints;
  2. As a result, every part of our transportation system is terribly congested;
  3. Increasingly sophisticated application of information technology is our only path around this congestion; and
  4. Failure to make significant investments in our transportation infrastructure could be perilous.

Shipping: “Air cargo demand improved again in August, which while ‘failing to impress’, is better than growth in the first part of the year” [Air Cargo News].

Shipping: “Rolls Royce along with the government of Finland has announced that they would have the technology available to operate autonomous ships by 2025. Although this is still nine years away, a shift like this can fundamentally change shipping as we know it today. With technology, this means that even the largest most complex cargo vessels could operate with much smaller crews (or no crew at all) within a decade” [DC Velocity]. “t is clear that new regulations must be developed and created and a flag state that swiftly moves can offer greater incentives to owners that embrace this technology.”

Shipping: “Global shipping lines are under new scrutiny over price-fixing. South Africa’s Competition Commission is investigating some of the world’s biggest container shipping operators… and using information from raids on the carriers’ local offices. The operators targeted are the South African units of Germany’s Hamburg Sud, Denmark’s Maersk Line, Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company, France’s CMA CGM Shipping and Safmarine, a Maersk subsidiary” [Wall Street Journal].

Shipping: “There are now 15 major global carriers, down from 20 five years ago. When this phase of container shipping is over, it’s likely the number of global carriers will be in single figures” [Splash247].

Fodder for the Bulls: “The Merrill Lynch team feels a production cut in November could push OPEC market share to non-OPEC producers, especially those in the U.S. shales, and that in turn could be big for oilfield services” [247 Wall Street].

Honey for the Bears: “Weakening supply-demand dynamics have pushed down [Revenue Per Available Room] growth across all chain scales” [Hotel News Notes]. “Welcome to the future. The times of continued occupancy declines are here. This is what we have talked about, warned about and fretted about.”

Crooks: “The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced that casino-gaming company International Game Technology PLC (NYSE: IGT) has agreed to pay a half-million dollar penalty for firing an employee with several years of positive performance reviews because he reported to senior management and the SEC that the company’s financial statements might be distorted” [247 Wall Street]. “The SEC’s second whistleblower retaliation case since the Dodd-Frank Act authorized it to bring such charges.”

Crooks: “Shares of embattled German banking giant Deutsche Bank AG were up as much as 14% this morning, following reports that the company is close to a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice” [ETF Daily News].

Crooks: “If you’d prefer not to repeat 2008, here’s a suggestion. Write, email, call and – the next time he or she is in town – confront your representative in Congress and demand that Bill Black be appointed to make cases against corrupt bankers until enough of them go to prison to get the rest to act lawfully” [David Cay Johnston, Investopedia]. Nice shout-out!

Today’s Fear & Greed Index: 45 Neutral (previous close: 38, Fear) [CNN]. One week ago: 55 (Neutral). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Sep 30 at 11:38am.

Black Injustice Tipping Point

“Share of mortgages going to blacks has tumbled nearly 40% from the peak” [MarketWatch]. “African-Americans accounted for 8.7% of all home purchase loans in 2006, according to data out Thursday from the Federal Reserve. In 2015, they made up 5.5%. That’s a 37% decline. What’s more, African-Americans overwhelmingly rely on mortgages that are backed by the government, noted the Center for Responsible Lending in a statement Friday. Some 70.2% of African-American borrowers were government-backed, nearly double the share of such loans to white borrowers.”

Class Warfare

“The decline of the middle class is causing even more economic damage than we realized” (from this IMF study) [Larry Summers, WaPo]. “[P]olarization has reduced consumer spending by more than 3 percent or about $400 billion annually. If these findings stand up to scrutiny, they deserve to have a policy impact. This level of reduction in spending is huge. For example, it exceeds by a significant margin the impact in any year of the Obama stimulus program. Principally, it is the macroeconomic importance of supporting middle class incomes.” As if “middle class” were an analytical, as opposed to a political or even a marketing term.

“90 Cents of Every “Pay-for-Performance” Dollar are Paid for Luck” [The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation] (original). “Employee stock options may very well be a desirable component of executive compensation. This paper shows that the standard form of option compensation, with non-indexed at-the-money options, is very far from optimal, though, as its pay-for-luck component is in the ballpark of 90%, and its motivational power is rather low. Why are such options the standard practice? A possible answer is provided by the “skimming” view of Bebchuk and Fried (2009).” If “skimming” means what I think it means….

“[H]ome health aides have formed worker-owned cooperatives. Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA), based in the Bronx, and Home Care Associates (HCA) of Philadelphia are both affiliates of PHI, which advocates on behalf of the workforce more generally. Both provide training and support, as well as employment at decent wages” [Nonprofit Quarterly].

News of the Wired

“Microsoft says it has formed a new 5,000-person engineering and research team to focus on its artificial intelligence products — a major reshaping of the company’s internal structure reminiscent of its massive pivot to pursue the opportunity of the Internet in the mid-1990s” [GeekWire].

* * *

Readers, feel free to contact me with (a) links, and even better (b) sources I should curate regularly, and (c) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi are deemed to be honorary plants! See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. And here’s today’s plant:

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From the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. Oddly spiky for Maine!

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About Lambert Strether

Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver on such programs, because the two are different flavors of neoliberalism (“Because markets”). I don’t much care about the “ism” that delivers the benefits, although whichever one does have to put common humanity first, as opposed to markets. Could be a second FDR saving capitalism, democratic socialism leashing and collaring it, or communism razing it. I don’t much care, as long as the benefits are delivered. To me, the key issue — and this is why Medicare for All is always first with me — is the tens of thousands of excess “deaths from despair,” as described by the Case-Deaton study, and other recent studies. That enormous body count makes Medicare for All, at the very least, a moral and strategic imperative. And that level of suffering and organic damage makes the concerns of identity politics — even the worthy fight to help the refugees Bush, Obama, and Clinton’s wars created — bright shiny objects by comparison. Hence my frustration with the news flow — currently in my view the swirling intersection of two, separate Shock Doctrine campaigns, one by the Administration, and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the State and in the press — a news flow that constantly forces me to focus on matters that I regard as of secondary importance to the excess deaths. What kind of political economy is it that halts or even reverses the increases in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of both party establishments will open the space for voices supporting programs similar to those I have listed; let’s call such voices “the left.” Volatility creates opportunity, especially if the Democrat establishment, which puts markets first and opposes all such programs, isn’t allowed to get back into the saddle. Eyes on the prize! I love the tactical level, and secretly love even the horse race, since I’ve been blogging about it daily for fourteen years, but everything I write has this perspective at the back of it.

192 comments

  1. Vatch

    “‘I trust Hillary on this,’ Sen. Sherrod Brown said Thursday. “She will oppose [TPP] just as strongly on Nov. 9 as she does today.

    Unfortunately, even if she is trustworthy on this issue, it’s the members of Congress who will have the power to ratify, reject, or ignore the TPP during November and December. Do we dare trust a majority of either the House or the Senate to oppose the TPP during the lame duck period? We know that Obama supports it, and he will enthusiastically throw the American people under the bus.

    1. nippersmom

      HRC may very well “oppose [TPP] just as strongly on Nov. 9 as she does today.”. Where I differ from Sherrod Brown is he apparently thinks she actually opposes it today. I am convinced otherwise.

      1. Vatch

        Well, if she doesn’t oppose it today (and that’s probably true), then she’ll very likely not oppose it just as strongly on Nov. 9. :-)

        1. nippersmom

          Not opposing it at all then is opposing it just as much as not opposing it at all now. Zero now = zero later. ;-)

          1. hunkerdown

            But the integral of justice* keeps Progressing! Isn’t that enough for you purists? ;)

            * measured as parts-per-million of hot air released

      2. Pat

        My respect for Brown has taken a beating the last few years. So much so that I’m not so sure he doesn’t know that statement is misleading and Clinton is hoping it is a done deal before she has to get TTiP and TiSA through and doesn’t have to come up with some smoke and mirrors useless fix for TPP.

      3. Waldenpond

        Another video. I think she has the same strength of belief regarding TPP as she does anything else.

        Apparently she was at a fundraiser and expressed her disbelief for education and healthcare policies, made note of Sanders false promises to ‘naive’ supporters etc….. I think the oligarch class can be summed up as viewing the peasants as the 47% that live in the basement and bitterly cling to guns, overpriced diplomas and barista jobs.

        I personally don’t want to watch what might be the 1% chuckling at the peasants.

        Intercept. https://twitter.com/theintercept/status/781976424018313217

        1. Waldenpond

          Ok, read some clips. I considered myself disengaged. It must be because I just ignore all of the sleazebaggery, but when I read the bs she says in front of her coconspirators, I have nothing but contempt for Ds.

          Clinton:

          It is important to recognize what’s going on in this election. Everybody (the 1%) who’s ever been in an election that I’m aware of is quite bewildered because there is a strain of, on the one hand, the kind of populist, NATIONALIST, XENOPHOBIC, DISCRIMINATORY kind of approach that we hear too much of from the Republican candidates. And on the other side, there’s just a deep desire to believe that we can have FREE COLLEGE, FREE HEALTHCARE, that what we’ve done hasn’t gone far enough (you ingrates!), and that we just need to, you know, go as far as, you know, Scandinavia, whatever that means, and HALF THE PEOPLE DON’T KNOW what that means, but it’s something that they deeply FEEL. So as a friend of mine said the other day, I am occupying from the center-left to the center-right.

          The far right and the far left are just the same when your only goal in life is corporate rule.

            1. sandra l lawrence

              Do you think this might be part of Correct-the-Record post debate plan?

              “MoveOn is developing a top secret election game that may just help swing the election and defeat Donald Trump—and you’re invited to be one of the first to play it. Will you accept the invite and be one of the first to play when the game begins on October 10?
              We’d love to share more details, but Republicans and Donald Trump would also love to know more. So we’re keeping the rest a secret until the game goes live on October 10.
              Click here to add your name to play this top secret game as soon as it’s released.”

              IDK … Wld think CtR would need lots of participants in the ‘plot’ fast & simultaneously to have an impact … This is a bit different from the deluge of emails from “progressive” organizations selling fear the world implosion via Trump vote that I’ve been getting, and/or the ‘vote for 3rd party = vote for Trump’ lie (debunked ad nauseum.)

    2. NotTimothyGeithner

      Do Democrats not understand Hillary is widely seen as not trustworthy hence anyone who says “I trust Hillary” will be seen as liars or rubes except by the choir?

      1. Tvc15

        I see this playing out as others have mentioned previously; a few cosmetic changes and voila! gold standard again.

        Maybe naively, but I used to follow Brown too and thought he was a good one.

          1. Vatch

            I agree that it’s not a compliment, although I don’t think it’s quite accurate, either. Merkley and Gabbard seem better than Brown.

      2. Chris

        Short answer from a poll of friends and acquaintances in the MD/DC/NoVa is no.

        They really don’t understand why anyone dislikes her. They think Vox is the premier source for journalism because it so obviously rallied to the cause a long time ago. They think the email scandal is not a big deal. They believe that the market, insurance companies, and the Clinton Foundation, do God’s work. They honestly believe that Hillary is qualified to be president.

        It’s the privileged flip side of the problem people in the forgotten middle have with respect to the problems in this country. They just can’t imagine why people would think like that. It’s not BS. It’s some kind of modern head blindness. Not purely born of money or salary either although many would be called insulated by the likes of Thomas Frank or Peggy Noonan. They just can’t accept that she’s not a legitimate heir to the promise they felt Obama represented. And so, despite receiving neither hope nor change 8 years ago, they’re content to wait for it to come this time. Like rain dancers waiting for that big storm which will surely come soon…

        1. Banana Breakfast

          Hope and change sound nice, but if you have a six figure salary, a house in a supercharged market, and a cushy job in a posh metro, you already have hope (confidence, even!) for your future and you don’t really need change. You might prefer that some things, change, but you’ll be fine either way. In fact some kinds of change, including those represented by Trump (maybe, to the extent Trump reliably represents anything at all) and Sanders, are pretty scary to you. Easy to wait it out when you’ve got no skin in the game.

      3. jrs

        Trustworthy is not the only issue, everyone she surrounds herself with including her VP supports the TPP. This speaks louder than words.

        1. NYPaul

          I wish I could find the article I read several months ago regarding the irrefutable evidence that Hillary is 100% Pro TPP. Try as I might, no success.

          Anyway, the article stated, in great detail, how deeply invested John Podesta, her campaign manager, and, his financial syndicate, is in this Trade deal. The great number of really rich people involved (including the Clintons,) the tremendous amount of work already invested, and, the labyrinthine complexity of the interwoven partnerships, makes it, virtually, impossible that it would (could?) be unwound in any real sense of the word.

          Maybe some NC commenters recall what I can’t.

            1. NYPaul

              Now I’m really motivated, Lambert. I’m off this weekend, nursing my sick doggie back to health, hopefully. Gotta give her her meds every hour, so, my scrolling finger should be all calloused up by Monday.

              Doing some “free association” exercises to get started. My Pop was a psychotherapist, I may have picked up a few things to help my memory. He switched his specialty from surgery after having escaped Poland in ‘39, a week before Blitzkrieg began. Then, schlepped through Russia (his goal was China, everyone was sure the Soviet Union was going down), survived Sunny Stalingrad (where my Bro & I were born,) and, eventually wound up at the East River Immigration Station in Manhattan (we were too poor to gain admission through the high class Ellis Island Station.) We actually arrived to New York Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1950, but, were not permitted entry because, you know, “the papers.” The ship’s papers were not in order so we anchored out in the harbor, right next to The Statue of Liberty for the night. That’s after having survived 11 days & nights heaving and smashing/crashing through “the worst North Atlantic storm of the 20th. century.” But, the old U.S.S. General Blatchford, a recommissioned WW 1 Troop transport made it through its final voyage in one piece. And, best news of all, by measuring how high high the vomit line had climbed up the walls down in the holds, It’s a good bet that a majority of the 3000 refugees that left Hamburg a week and a half earlier had survived the trip.

              Now, stop bothering me, I’ve got work to do.

          1. Vatch

            This probably isn’t the article that you saw, but what the heck, I’ll post it anyway. It’s a quote from Senator Jeff Sessions in the July 13, 2016, issue of the Congressional Record (pages S5025-S5026). He refers to Politifact, so maybe that’s where the article is that you saw.

            https://www.congress.gov/crec/2016/07/13/CREC-2016-07-13-senate.pdf

            How did PolitiFact analyze Mrs.
            Clinton’s statements? Here are some of
            the things they reported in their anal-
            ysis. ‘‘Once I saw what the outcome
            was, I opposed it.’’

            That is a pretty clear statement, it
            appears.

            Speaking in Australia in 2012, how-
            ever, she hailed the deal as ‘‘setting
            the gold standard.’’

            She said: ‘‘This TPP sets the gold
            standard in trade agreements to open,
            free, transparent, fair trade, the kind
            of environment that has the rule of law
            and a level playing field.’’

            It seems to me to be a total commit-
            ment to supporting the trade deal.

            Remember, as Secretary of State, she
            is the chief diplomatic official for the
            United States. The Trade Representa-
            tive does most of the negotiations, but
            the Secretary of State is involved in
            these negotiations. It involved the eco-
            nomic relationship of the United
            States with 11 other Pacific nations. So
            she knows what is going on in these ne-
            gotiations and should be well aware of
            them. If she wasn’t, she was not doing
            her job.

            Hillary Clinton’s support for the TPP
            goes on as she said that it would create
            ‘‘Better jobs with higher wages and
            safer working conditions, including for
            women, migrant workers and others
            too often in the past excluded from the
            formal economy will help build Asia’s
            middle class and rebalance the global
            economy.’’

            Well, I don’t have any doubt that if
            this trade agreement is like the other
            trade agreements—and I believe it is—
            it will definitely help Asian trade com-
            petitors of ours. The question is, who is
            representing the American people?
            That is whom our legal, moral, and po-
            litical responsibility is to—the Amer-
            ican people. Is it going to be a better
            transaction for them or not? They
            don’t think so, I don’t think so, and a
            growing number of economists are be-
            ginning to understand why these trade
            deals I have so often supported in the
            past are not working effectively.

            PolitiFact reported in October that
            she also described this trade deal over
            time as ‘‘exciting, innovative, ambi-
            tious, groundbreaking, cutting-edge,
            high-quality, and high-standard.’’ That
            is the way she has described it over the
            years.

            PolitiFact concludes with this:
            ‘‘Nonetheless, her comments at the
            time were so positive and so definitive,
            it becomes disingenuous to argue, as
            she’s doing now, that she didn’t en-
            dorse it before it was finalized.’’

    3. NYPaul

      Insofar as the TPP is one of the most significant, and, consequential, issues of our time, why hasn’t it become a priority point of debate in this campaign?

      Granted, the public is largely ignorant of the details comprising this proposed trade package, but, couldn’t a smart candidate make it (defeating it) a winning issue? Hillary’s position, after making her disingenuous 180 at the beginning of her campaign has been mostly silence (smart.) Trump has railed against all past trade deals, and, the upcoming TPP decision is buried (lost) within the rhetoric.

      Now, assuming the polls show him 5-6 points behind as we get close to election day it seems to me an experienced political wordsmith could paint the TPP as a major Loser (ala Willie Horton) for the electorate. Also, up to this point in the campaign, I believe Trump’s numbers have been undercounted vis a vis Clinton’s. I’d guess that a not insignificant number of prospective Trump voters might be reluctant to state they’re planning to vote for him, at least compared to those who plan to “be with her.” Assuming there will still be fair number of undecided closer to voting day this TPP might just be the “rabbit out of the hat” that pushes some voters to their ultimate choice.

      1. OpenThePodBayDoorsHAL

        Um you may have heard the Republican candidate talking about trade deals, pretty much nonstop.
        If you mean what the MSM is reporting and how they’re reporting it, then you have a point.

        1. NYPaul

          You’re right, Hal, but, I believe he talks about “Trade Deals” in toto, and The TPP only once or twice as far as I recall.

        1. NYPaul

          I’m sure she did, kimsarah. I’ve heard her carefully crafted (sleazy) reasoning for her 180 position re: the TPP. It is so, disingenuously, vague as to be, literally, laughable. (Paraphrasing) “Before I sign off on this Trade Bill, the TPP, it’s going to have to satisfy me that workers’ rights are protected.”

          Wow! Iron clad, no way to get past that.

          Its like she doesn’t even have to try any more. The zombies are in the pen, and if she says “something” that sounds about right, more than good enough.

          Mention that to a, (shhh. am I allowed to say, Hilbot?) and your answer will be, “SHE ADDRESSED THAT, YOU IDIIOT!!…….jeesh”

          Finally, I feel the need to say this daily: Nowhere in my criticism of HRC is there a stealth implication that I believe DT would make a good President. Personally, I think he’ll be a disaster. But, his bombastic bluster, and, inconceivably stupid ideas, I trust, can
          be dulled somewhat by a cadre of, while, not too bright, yet, not suicidal, either, advisors.

          I’m banking on the shear, enormous tonnage of self-preserving greed represented by the gross number of career Sows that constitute Washington. I think (hope) they’ll contain Pudgy Donald, and keep him (and us) from the brink.

          No such hope for a Hillary Presidency. I remember, very vividly, what those 13 days in October of 1962 were like; No desire to relive them for a potential 1500 days.

  2. hemeantwell

    (It is interesting to me that the movies our politicians have most memorized are “The Godfather” Parts I and II.)”

    And they use that to orient their politics? Wha… Oh, I see. “It’s just business”!

  3. hemeantwell

    Deutsche Bank AG were up as much as 14% this morning, following reports that the company is close to a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice

    Pam Martens at Wall Street on Parade had an article last Friday on how DB is a systemically tied-in bank with a Lehmanish potential to wreak havoc via derivative positions. Is it possible that might encourage the DoJ to help them not blow up on the eve of an election?
    http://wallstreetonparade.com/

    1. Yves Smith

      *Sigh*. This DB=Lehman meme is just plain wrong.

      Lehman had at least 50% of its balance sheet dependent on repo. Repo tenors had shortened to overnight. And collateral haircuts were making a moon shot. Lehman had a liquidity crisis.

      DB has enough liquidity to last for years. Even in a panic and a monster run, we are talking well over six months before there would be any liquidity problems. And look at how the ECB kept the so-dead-the-corpses-were-rotting-in-the-public-square Greek banking system on life support for years. The ECB could and would prevent DB from running out of financing.

      IMHO what drove this was that the shorts nevertheless succeeded in creating worries and bank stocks got all wobbly.

      The DoJ gave up a lot of bargaining leverage by being in a hurry to cinch the settlement before the presidential regime change. And they might have gotten orders to cut DB a break so as not to spook the stock market, since a swoon would hurt Clinton.

      1. apber

        Ah… but the fact remains that most of the European banks are really on life support; if DB merely sneezes, the others will get pneumonia. It will be interesting to see if there are “bail-ins” or bailouts, especially since Merkel is fighting for her political life. Since European elites are all in for Hillary, I would imagine nothing significant happens until after the election.

  4. Unorthodoxmarxist

    “Some parties need wrecking.” – my gosh, I am not a fan of Johnson or the Libertarians but this quote is gold. Yes, yes they do indeed, and it’s nice to see someone admit that openly.

    I have often said that the left needs to concentrate on the utter destruction of the Democratic party if it’s going to stand a chance. Wonderful to know some people do get it.

    1. Pelham

      Agreed. As I see it, if Trump wins, both the Dems and Repubs get wrecked. The GOP remolds itself entirely under Trump’s leadership, such as it is. And the Sandersnistas get a new lease on life among the Dems.

      However, if Clinton wins, the Repubs may be able to discard their base and restore the old order while the Dem leadership tightens its iron grip, waving a final bye-bye to the Sanders folks (which they’ve already done to a large degree), sending them off to the Greens or Libertarians (shudder) and marginalization.

      But perhaps the bigger factor is the economy and how close we are to another recession — maybe a deep one — or, worse, another financial crisis. No matter who wins in November, if the overdue economic calamity kicks in shortly thereafter without the economy and most Americans’ fortunes ever having recovered significantly since the last meltdown, the entire political chessboard may be upset. Indeed, this appears to be the most likely scenario. I may be wrong, but I just cannot imagine the beset and bedraggled American people taking yet another economic hammering without something boiling over.

      Ideally, the old Demublican leadership class would consolidate under Clinton in a new party of the global status quo and the “irredeemable deplorables,” and Sanders people would find common cause on a narrow range of economic issues (they’d never match up on the hot buttons) and press that agenda. The former seems plausible; sadly, the latter combination doesn’t.

      1. NotTimothyGeithner

        If Hillary wins, all hail President Paul Ryan whether he wins in 2020 or the GOP can get him in there earlier. My guess is the Democrats recede big time in 2018 as Hillary breaks all her promises to not be a complete monster.

        1. Pat

          They won’t be able to get him in earlier. There will be bunch of faux opposition but I think they will be fine with President Kaine those last couple of years until 2020.

          1. NotTimothyGeithner

            I don’t think you understand the GOP hive mind. If they can get rid of Hillary, they will get rid of any other Democrat, and if Hillary can be booted, Team Blue will be in such disarray the GOP will steam roll Kaine.

        2. OpenThePodBayDoorsHAL

          Hilary of course just like Obama will break every last one of her “promises” but she will just tell people she didn’t and they will believe her.

      2. Lambert Strether Post author

        If you recall, the hotel industry doesn’t believe in a recession next year, but the year after. And they’re planning for it. Just in time for the mid-terms!

    2. Ranger Rick

      Saw a great banner this morning: a rare, actual Green Party effort. “Vote Stein” it read. “Flip the vote.” Beneath “flip,” “split” was written, and struck out.

  5. b1whois

    is this what you intended to say?

    So cash is “safer and cleaner” only if you believe that rental extraction by the banks is safe and clean.

  6. diptherio

    “The decline of the middle class is causing even more economic damage than we realized”

    This line is indicative of the bizarre mental contortions that have become commonplace for our economic “experts.” In what sane understanding of the world can the worsening of people’s economic circumstances be separated from “economic damage”?!? The decline of the middle class (if we accept that framing) can only be synonymous with “economic damage.” If it’s not, that would seem to imply that “economic damage” is something that can only happen to…who?…what?…maybe the “we” who didn’t realize how damaging destroying peoples lives would be?

    1. hunkerdown

      diptherio, the middle class fail miserably to earn their keep. Why should they get any more carrots until they stop parasitizing those they declare theirs for the milking?

    2. Jim Haygood

      Don’t worry, Mr D — Larry Summers has a plan:

      Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers floated the idea of continuous purchases of stocks as a potential ingredient in a recipe for the developed world to strengthen economies struggling with subdued growth and inflation.

      Among the proposals that deserve “serious reflection” is the purchase of a “wider range of assets on a sustained and continuing basis,” Summers said in a lecture at a Bank of Japan conference in Tokyo Friday.

      http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-30/summers-floats-idea-of-sustained-government-stock-purchases

      Hasn’t worked on Planet Japan. Of course, the laws of economics could be different in our solar system.

      As the cheery tagline in lottery radio spots used to go, “Hey … you never know!

      1. JohnnyGL

        Socialized housing finance – YES!

        Socialized equity ownership – YES!

        Socialized medicine – WHAT THE F$%& ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT YOU COMMIE?!?!!?

      2. OpenThePodBayDoorsHAL

        I’ll just repost this because I think it’s true:

        Money is free, Whee!
        But it’s all based on debt, Boo!
        But one man’s debt is another man’s asset, Whee!
        But NIRP bonds have negative principal, Boo!
        But there’s a great new gambler in town named Mr. Yellen, he’s buying stocks and can never get a margin call because he has a magic money bag, Whee!
        But the rest of us had to earn a profit and pay taxes before we could own stocks, so we have no idea what they’re worth any more, Boo!

      3. Praedor

        Ugh. More of the same tired old market based crap. NO MORE MARKET CRAP. Instead of throwing money down on the casino of Wall St (purely to enrich Goldman-Sachs and other parasitic traders), give money DIRECTLY to the people.

        BOOM! Instant economic stimulus from the ONLY place it works or matters: from the bottom up.

    3. Tony S

      In the US media, economic news is almost always reported from the perspective of the 1%.

      Minimum-wage increases are immensely helpful to those at the bottom of the economic pyramid, but they’re always framed as “economically risky”. Rising stock prices are invariably considered to be good news, even if they’re built off of layoffs and offshoring. The erosion of unions and labor rights are celebrated as “employment flexibility”. There are plenty of other examples, and the reporting on “the decline of the middle class” is another one.

      To most of us “a strong economy” is synonymous with “a good standard of living for the average citizen”. But that’s not the way it is to the 1% and their media mouthpieces.

      1. NYPaul

        So, what is meant by the feel-good meme, “of all modern nations America has, by far, the best/strongest economy?”

        Since, “the economy,” means the GDP, theoretically, it could mean that one Corporation (Amazon?) has monopolized itself to be the last/only one standing, and unemployment settled at 99%.

  7. optimader

    “Donald Trump has [WTO] officials in Geneva running scared…. various states of denial about the election” [Politico]. Their careers. Oh, the humanity!

    The BLD (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner) Bureaucracy expense accounts are at risk! Clutching menus w/ hotel comforters over their heads :oO

    Screw the cheap ass Swiss Fondue cart! Time to airlift some emergency double orders of Mussels from Brussels to Geneva as cocktail hour comfort food for the nervous Ciphers of World Order!

    1. nippersdad

      I’ll believe it when I see it; every bloody thing he has licensed for manufacture, including those silly hats, were made elsewhere. If one looks at his domestic business arrangements, it is quite clear that he doesn’t give the slightest damn about his employees or contractors, much less those of any other corporation. He has admitted on several occasions that the economic system we have has benefited him mightily, that he is just taking advantage of it and that is what his voters love about him!

      His statements wrt trade agreements just look like a lot of bushwah. He, like Hillary, will find a few misplaced commas the day after the election and declare victory. This just looks like the 2016 version of holding people accountable, renegotiating NAFTA, card-check, ending “bad wars”, closing Guantanamo or increasing government transparency. I don’t remember seeing those cameras in the back rooms where ACA policy was hammered out, and I don’t see him doing anything to kill off the golden goose labor arbitrage scam.

      It looks to me that the memo went out to Davos Man that anything they can do to help Hillary will ultimately help themselves.

      1. OpenThePodBayDoorsHAL

        Measure him by his enemies: Globalist trade grifters (check), Republican neo-con war mongers (check), billionaire carpetbaggers like Buffet and Cuban (check), Wall St mafiosi like Goldman (check), Federal Reserve 1% errand boys (check)

        1. Optimader

          The fact that the political duopoly want to destroy him at any cost is sort of encouraging. I know the neocons hate him. I am told “wall street” is uniformly afraid of him (he’s an “unknown risk” -HRC is a known risk? And thats a good thing??) is sort of encouraging.

          Trump has the potential to tip over a bunch of apple carts , (i think he genuinely hates the notion of TPP for example) or just rollover buisness as usual, no one really knows,.Thats why the status quo are shting diamonds at the thought of him.

          I had very brief glimpses (during the debatr) that he wants to do the right thing, wether he has the intellectual HP to pick a team to do it, i have no idea.

          What I am sure of is that team Clintion will be a pariah. Think rahm e, then remove the charisma and scale up while turning up the avarice and greed knobs to 11
          :o/

      2. NYPaul

        You make it sound like the majority opinion here on NC Re: Donald Trump is that he’s shown great competence and has scored many accomplishments. But, back in reality, I believe the majority here understand he’s an idiot, liar, and, a buffoon. So, what does it say when a substantial plurality, a group as intelligent, knowledgeable, and, learned, as found at NC, find him still preferable to Hillary Clinton?

        Answer: (mine alone) With Trump, we hope he doesn’t screw things up too much during his first four (and, probably, only) years in office; with Hillary, we know that world domination and consolidation of the world’s assets within the 1% is her ill-fated, maniacal goal. In other words, there’s a reasonable chance Trump won’t attempt to implement policies reflective of his worst campaign rhetoric; with Hillary, even her best rhetoric is unacceptable.

        1. Skip Into

          To paraphrase Mae West, when choosing between two evils, I like to go with the one I haven’t tried before. In this case, Trump’s infantilized ego and incompetence are decidedly benefits; the less effective of two evils.

          1. Pavel

            If Donald Trump is a horrific “bully” (which he may well be) what does that make the following:

            * Bill Clinton, whose Iraq sanctions killed 500K children, and who bombed an essential medicines factory (claiming it was a terror operation) to distract the country from Monica’s blue dress?

            * Hillary Clinton, who supported an illegal and pointless war in Iraq and then went on to create a failed state in Libya?

            * Barack Obama, who on a weekly basis knowingly kills innocent civilians with drones?

            * Hillary and Barack, who sold billions of dollars worth of arms to the despotic Saudis, who are committing genocide in Yemen?

            Who’s the biggest bully?

            1. OpenThePodBayDoorsHAL

              I know, I know, pick me!
              Answer: it’s the guy with orange hair who said Rosie O’Donnell is fat.
              Couldn”t possibly be the lady who gloated about turning the country with the highest standard of living in Africa into an Islamist hellhole

        2. nippersdad

          I in no way meant to give the impression that this was a majority view here, it is my impression and I thought I had made that clear. Apologies if this is not so. I think Yves made your points pretty clear in her Politico article and they are pretty much the majority view.

          I just hope no one is disappointed if that view turns out to be wrong; we have seen that play too many times now.

          1. NYPaul

            I’m a little confused, nippersdad. First, I’m not 100% certain you’re even responding to me. I don’t have the “comment/parent/respond to” system down pat yet. I’d appreciate it if someone would walk me through it ala: “commenting protocol on NC for dummies.”

            So, whatever misinterpretation might exist between your original comment and my take on it is so slight, I’d just say, you’re correct, and, I agree.

            Only one point I perceive differently, namely, I do think DT is, basically, anti-TPP. I could give you my reasoning but, you know what, sometimes the issue is less important than the effort it would take to explain my reasoning. Just another way to say I’m basically, a lazy slug.

            1. nippersdad

              I was responding to your comment, and I apologize if I misunderstood what you were trying to say. I, too, believe that he is a liar and a buffoon…but then so was George W. Bush. What those two both have in common is that they were both born on first base and have always been able to afford people to advise them when necessary, and both recognize the necessity for such.

              Whatever else they may be they are not idiots, and to depict them as such is, I believe, a grave error. Bush, the “compassionate Conservative” that gave us the GWOT, didn’t do anything that he ultimately was unable to have legitimized, legalized and expanded by a nominally Democratic Administration. The Washington Consensus is real, and I think anyone who thinks it will be overturned in a fit of all too predictable populist grandstanding during an election season is seriously mistaken.

              The one characteristic that is agreed upon by everyone who has ever commented upon Trump is his devotion to his own self interest. I don’t think that will change if he is elected President.

  8. shinola

    Noonan’s WSJ article provides the best quote I’ve come across in the MSM regarding the Clinton/Trump “debate”:

    “Neither quite got across the idea that they were in it for America and not themselves.”

    1. Pat

      I do have to give it to her for that. I also like the guys from SNL this morning on the View for stating the obvious when asked what they thought about the debate: “it wasn’t a debate”.

  9. optimader

    With technology, this means that even the largest most complex cargo vessels could operate with much smaller crews (or no crew at all) within a decade”

    No crew?
    So , how will that work w/ Maritime insurance when boarding parties strip out all the copper plumbing and wire??

        1. hunkerdown

          “Before I formed you in the source tree, I knew you.”

          “rm is murder!”

          “I implement policy, therefore I am.” Talk about putting Descartes before de horse.

    1. Synoia

      Nine years in the Future? Either that is a lot of code, billions of lines of code, or they have not yet started.

      My money is “not yet started” as in looking for money from future customers.

      I suspect the law of the sea, especially those about “right of way” and “keeping watch” might be a small problem for autonomous ships.

      Sorry about your kyack/canoe/yacht/raft…..Things with poor radar images, because these ships will have to travel at full speed in fog…

      Gives new meaning to “Perils of the sea.”

      1. RMO

        If you think that all the ships out there right now are keeping watch conscientiously you’re deluded. A lot of them just don’t bother and rely on the radar picking up and alerting them to anything big enough to cause them a problem if they collide with it.

      1. optimader

        a hurricane …. or a typhoon ……

        cant drown an algo.. But maybe you can steal all its food ( Bunker Fuel )?

        All the same, best beta test the concept in the Northwest Passage ( coming soon! ) just to be safe!

  10. JohnnyGL

    Oddly, or not, the word “subprime” doesn’t appear once during that Marketwatch article. Seems hard to ignore the significant marketshare that subprime had in 2006’s mortgage market.

    That part of “the bezzle” collapsed under it’s own weight, as Yves and others have extensively written.

  11. b1whois

    the desperation, it burns!! (or is that berns?!) from my email this morning:

    Laura, we hate to beg, but you have 12 MISSED MESSAGES to renew your Democratic Support for September.

    This is the FINAL NOTICE OF YOUR DEMOCRATIC MEMBERSHIP STATUS before the last End of Quarter Deadline hits tonight.

    final notice of what?? My “democratic membership status”?? oh dear!! ( I am registered green, btw)

    1. Jim Haygood

      Your probation ends at midnight.

      Please turn in your ankle monitor at any Democratic campaign office.

    2. hunkerdown

      Being a forty-something white male, I see a lot of that very same accusation around the web, that I am ignoring the messages of someone very eager to give me something. Those other accusations tend to be far more compelling, the in-group to which they’re selling access being naked camgirls rather than pantsuited aristocrats.

      Never mind popcorn, it smells more like marshmallowzeit. Mind the phosgene and phthalates though. Dumpster fires are not exactly scrubbed by the power of the word “clean”.

    3. nippersdad

      The DNC called my Wife the other night, and not only are my ears still ringing but also that particular telephone no longer works. I strongly suspect that they don’t want any pollsters calling us before the election.

      So, coincidence or conspiracy theory? :)

      1. Jim Haygood

        Yep, I busted some phones that way too:

        Anger is difficult to convey properly in a text, compared to the hallowed method of shouting into a phone and slamming the receiver down.

        This mode of communication reached its apotheosis in 1950-1984, with Western Electric’s magnificent Model 500, an absolutely unbreakable hunk of molded plastic.

        The phone smash came in especially handy when you got the runaround from customer service. But today “customer service” means you send email or a text into a void where no one can hear you scream.

        http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_next_20/2016/09/what_s_lost_when_telephone_calls_disappear.html

        1. carycat

          Agree with JH that the old WE 500 station set is indestructable. I’ve dragged one off the table many times and all that does is leave little dents in the hardwood floor. May even improved it a bit by shaking up the carbon mike occasionally because I use the phone so infrequently.

          What is weird with all the desperate DNC solitications that I’m getting spammed with is that I have never expressed any interest in them other than sending in some money to a grumpy old man that they don’t consider to be a Democrat this silly season.
          All the fund raising emails are screaming that the sky is falling because Trump is going to win and so they need my few dollars while all their surrogates and shills in the media are saying that Hillary has the lead and still inevitable.

          1. NotTimothyGeithner

            After 2014 and even before the election, major donors (not all of them crooks but they don’t follow politics as closely as they believe) saw the Democrats bumbling around and wanted answers. Pelosi and others in an effort to appease these donors promised Hillary would set things right after Obama pissed away majorities. It should be remembered there is a myth Mr. 43% is a great politician.

            If Hillary doesn’t do very well against Trump, many of these regular donors might demand changes. For example, pro choice donors probably arent happy about Kaine. If Kaine doesnt win votes, what good was he? As for the Foundation donors, they want payment from Hillary, so they won’t be delivering.

            The Democrats could wake up with a very angry donor class especially If they can’t retake the Senate. Why did liberal donor X donate so much money to have his name effectively dragged through the mud and still not achieve anything? Believe it or not, people who are passionate about an issue fund the party outside of Presidential years.

            1. Yves Smith

              They are not retaking the Senate. Hillary is sucking all the $ out of down ticket races, while R billionaires who don’t like Trump are funding them heavily.

        2. nippersdad

          Love those! We have a couple of those old iron ones; indestructible! Not good with phone trees, though.

    4. Katharine

      If that’s final notice like the ones I get from Bridget, Carmen, and Rachel at Cardholder Services, they’ll be in touch again next wee.

      1. OIFVet

        Effing Rachel never keeps her promises. I have come to understand that final and limited-time offers never expire.

  12. Carolinian

    Re the sad decline of Elizabeth Drew–was she ever any good? Decades ago she used to churn out those Russian novel sized thumbsuckers in the New Yorker and can’t recall they were particularly scintillating even then. Perhaps we should blame Theodore White for making political reporters into such widely respected gurus. You watch them on the Sunday talk shows and say, “hey, I could do that” (not a boast). As with so much of the news these days there’s no penalty for being wrong.

      1. Pavel

        I also was amused by Drew’s use of the phrase “distort the outcome”. As in, how dare another political party dare to disrupt the sacred “two” party system of Tweedledem and Tweedlerepub…!

        As Alex Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair titled their book, “Not a Dime’s Worth of Difference”.

  13. Eureka Springs

    While I didn’t read Kristof and haven’t in at least a decade, I rather like like the use of the word “bully”. I haven’t found a reason to compare this madness to High School but Elementary certainly comes closer the level of discourse. College hazing often comes to mind, as does monster and unindicted war criminal.

    And of course woman are often bullies, monsters, unindicted war criminals. Jesus man, just temp a week or two in any corporate setting for a refresher on that.

    1. John Wright

      I sample Kristof from time to time and have archived some of his columns that have influenced my impression of him.

      On Aug 28, 2013, ( http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/29/opinion/kristof-reinforce-a-norm-in-syria.html)

      Kristof wrote: “I tend to be wary of the military toolbox, and I strongly opposed the Iraq war and the Afghan “surge.”

      “But in conjunction with diplomacy, military force can save lives. We saw that in Bosnia and Kosovo under Bill Clinton (who appears to favor a more forceful American approach in Syria), and we saw that just this year in Mali.”

      Here is Kristof pushing to have Obama kill some Syrians for image credibility reasons:

      “Since President Obama established a “red line” about chemical weapons use, his credibility has been at stake: he can’t just whimper and back down.”

      Please note Kristof’s “strongly opposed the Iraq War” assertion in 2013, used to build reader credibility that Kristof chooses to use military force for good ends.

      But is some text from a Kristof column of 11 years prior, August 27, 2002:
      http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/27/opinion/wimps-on-iraq.html

      “Iraq may well be different. President Bush has convinced me that there is no philosophical reason we should not overthrow the Iraqi government, given that Iraqis themselves would be better off, along with the rest of the world. But Mr. Bush has not overcome some practical concerns about an invasion. These concerns, which we need to focus on in the coming months, include:”

      Then Kristof proceeds to discuss his concerns such as “Can we overthrow Saddam swiftly and at a reasonable cost in lives?”

      Evidence of Kristof’s strong opposition to the Iraq war, indeed.

      1. Pavel

        Kristof goes on and on in the NYT about women’s issues in Africa and elsewhere. But not a peep of concern to my knowledge about Hillary receiving “donations” from the Saudis or providing them with weapons.

    2. Plenue

      You don’t even need to go as far as a corporate meeting room. A little over a month ago someone leaked extensive IRC chat logs that revealed that Zoe Quinn, the woman who was at the center of a giant scandal involving video game journalism and who has become a spokeswoman against internet bullying, harassment, and doxing, was literally running on online conspiracy network to harass and dox anyone she deemed an enemy. This includes swatting and, at one point, downloading child porn and uploading it to an imageboard website in an attempt to get the site shutdown.

    3. sleepy

      To me, it’s more middle school lunch table with the media and the political class being the cool kids all getting more and more paranoid about Trump blowing up their sense of entitlement and privilege, and exposing the cool kids as having no clothes.

      I won’t be a Trump voter and support Stein, but that’s how the media and the status quo folks appear to view this election. I have never before in my 65 years witnessed the all out assault on a prez candidate.

      For example, I was listening to Msnbc on the radio today when they breathlessly came in with some “breaking news” which was a clip of Trump answering a few questions during a deposition. The answers were completely innocuous and meant nothing, but according to the pundits really, really were devastating to Trump. Totally unhinged news reporting.

      1. Marilyn

        The once cool kids (when Bill was prez) are craven old farts with muffin tops and the youngish cool actual kids are one week away from unemployment and their parent’s basement. Listen to the lies and memes of this bunch when you pull the lever or put an X in the box? Nah!

  14. NotTimothyGeithner

    Obozo compared Shimon Peres to Nelson Mandela. Obama might be as dumb as Shrub. He is just stupid.

    Mandela is probably the only person Obama can name.

    1. Jim Haygood

      Wikipedia:

      In 2002, members of the Norwegian committee that awards the annual Nobel Peace Prize stated they regretted that Mr Peres’ prize could not be recalled.

      Because he had not acted to prevent Israel’s re-occupation of Palestinian territory, he had not lived up to the ideals he expressed when he accepted the prize, and he was involved in human rights abuses.

      Maybe Norwegian law has changed to make 0bama’s prize irrevocable (since he’s guilty of the same charges leveled at Peres).

      On Terror Tuesdays, 0bama jokingly calls his signature strikes the “Rest in Peace Prize.” har har har

  15. timbers

    2016

    Hillary’s fighting for us on the #1 issue burned across everyone’s forehead:

    “Hillary Clinton announced Friday that she wants to enlist 5 million new volunteers into a “national service reserve” aimed at 18- to 30-year-olds.

    “What if we strengthen the culture of service in America? So it wasn’t just something we did one day a year, but it became a regular part of our lives,” she asked in a Florida rally on the topic of national service Friday.

    The former secretary of state argued that her volunteer plan would help combat growing self-segregation in America, where people surround themselves with people who think, talk, look and read the same news as them. “That comes with a cost, it magnifies our differences,” she said, adding that the election has drawn attention to that trend. “Then it makes it harder to put those differences aside when our country needs us.”

    “Reservists” under Clinton’s plan would respond to natural disasters, help the homeless or tackle other local problems, the campaign said. Under the plan, they would be eligible for college credit, time off from work, or even a “modest stipend,” based on financial need, to participate in the reserve. (Clinton will negotiate with higher education institutions and corporations to get those benefits.)”

    What better way to get income depressed millennials off their arses and stop thinking about only themselves by helping others! Maybe we can butler training, too.

      1. timbers

        No it isn’t! Look more closely:

        The former secretary of state argued that her volunteer plan would help combat growing self-segregation in America, where people surround themselves with people who think, talk, look and read the same news as them. “That comes with a cost, it magnifies our differences,” she said, adding that the election has drawn attention to that trend. “Then it makes it harder to put those differences aside when our country needs us.”

        Is she talking about her friends in Washington/Stat Dept/White House/Pentagon?

        No! She’s talking about the narrow minded people who voted for Sanders. They all think alike and need to put aside their groupthink for the good of the country! Also they should vote for her.

    1. Pat

      So let’s get this straight, Clinton wants to negotiate with educational institutions and corporations to get them to pay for people to provide services that were once part of the government responsibility. For instance, at one time the National Guard was the go to organization for natural disasters.
      I really do have no idea how a group of volunteers is supposed to address the stated issues or what Clinton is proposing here.

      Oh, wait, what Clinton is proposing is something that is a mile wide and less than an inch deep. Sounds good until you ask real questions : What funding is there? Is it totally at the whim of the ‘sponsors’ or is there going to be a government revenue source to oversee this? What specific problems are these volunteers supposed to address? How much training will be available for volunteers? Screening for volunteers? What resources are available to volunteers to address the various issues they are supposed to be addressing? Is there housing, medical, food for those homeless outside of having someone say you are homeless the nearest church soup kitchen is two towns away? etc, etc, etc,

      Right up there with all the good she supposedly has done for Children over the years. Lots of talk, little substance.

      1. Eureka Springs

        I love it when Mrs. Ferengi Neoliberal Nagus herself starts telling other people they should work for free.

        1. OIFVet

          All day long they’re singin’
          (I’m with her) (I’m with her)
          (I’m with her) (I’m with her)

          That’s the sound of the millenials working on the chain ga-a-ang
          That’s the sound of the millenials working on the chain gang

      2. justanotherprogressive

        I’m just impressed that she thinks that all those 18-30 year olds are so well set up financially that they will have the time to “volunteer their services” instead of going to school or looking for jobs….must be that “modest stipend” that will attract them. Hmmmm………. Why do I suspect it will be less than the minimum wage?
        Or maybe she’s just talking about rich people’s children volunteering (like they would have a clue about what a homeless person or any person in a crisis situation needs….).
        Another example of “tone deaf” Hillary again trying to appeal to millennials? She’d be smarter just to keep her mouth shut.

        1. cwaltz

          You mean modest stipend based on financial need……

          They aren’t even promising you a modest stipend. I’m sure just like college, if your middle class mommy and daddy have anything that they’ll be asked to cover the costs of your volunteering.

          Then later on we(and our kids) will get yelled at for not preparing for our retirement with the imaginary money all these volunteer gigs pay.

          Have I mentioned lately how much the MOTU annoy me? They show how out of touch they are with the rest of us every single time they open their mouths.

          Kids don’t need “volunteer jobs”, they need paying jobs that cover the costs of education, health care, housing, food, and transportation(with a little left over for things like entertainment, travel or extras.) Geez.

              1. pretzelattack

                get onto my lawn, mow it, then go put out yard signs for me, then vote, then get an unpaid internship.

          1. Emma

            Mmmm….it looks like it reduces the access to, and possibility of, a big bright American future. There will be more economic losers than beneficiaries with this colonization program of American youth. It isn’t truly development-oriented that it will significantly stimulate the US economy ie. Increase the future productive and knowledge capacity of the population thereby leading to greater national income.

            I think it’s the Clinton teams’ successfully tried and tested way of using BleachBit with a cloth. It’s an excellent way of managing future unemployment figures. Also enforcing wage suppression. And multiplying the poor and inadequate job prospects of young Americans. And protecting an aging workforce of baby boomers who continue to actually exceed the number of younger people (and of prime childbearing age). What happens when Clinton lets robots ie. job automation take over entirely?! The program is a disingenuous way of nailing down young Americans to a future of oppressive debt.

            The 5 million youngsters of what I surmise is arguably a ‘transition’ program to eventually include all youngsters, will also be unable to afford and pursue higher education which can maximize potential (and that of the US economy……) because the program is primarily of an unpaid nature. In addition, they’ll run up consumer credit card debt, for how else will they cover their food and accommodation expenses for the programs’ duration?

            Perhaps Clinton could donate all that money she raised from her behind-the-door speeches at Goldman Sachs to help the nations’ youngsters? Maybe along with her economic advisors, Clinton will also force those wonderful blue-chip Fortune 500 American corporations to actually pay taxes for a change too. Clinton and her team could wholeheartedly unite with American corporations, to be “stronger together”, and to patriotically invest the money raised into remunerated employment opportunity youth programs. It’s the chip in and help Americans win, because that’s what really counts, surely?

      3. Roger Smith

        She wants to negotiate something that will increase the cost of the schools people cannot pay to go to.

    2. Roger Smith

      Uh…. a what?

      people who think, talk, look and read the same news as them

      This is a joke right? She just described the average “liberal”.

      What is a “National Reserve”? A Military body?

        1. Pavel

          Bill Clinton donated his services to that rather corrupt for-profit university.

          Oh, hang on, he received $12 million or so. Oops.

    3. cwaltz

      Heh, I wonder how long it would take before this kind of program would be utilized to justify cost cutting and job cuts in the public sector.

      Go from actually having someone work as a cafeteria worker for a wage and benefits to getting a “modest stipend” for the “local problem” of having to feed kids in a cafeteria(notice the weasel words of based on financial need too.)

    4. Lambert Strether Post author

      Offering debt-enslaved youth a chance to work for free or a “modest stipend” should really set Clinton in solid with that demographic. Here’s a link to the proposal.

      I mean, would they even get health insurance?

      And there’s “people surround themselves with people who think, talk, look and read the same news as them.” Help me.

      1. Jen

        “Part of the plan is also aimed at adding volunteer opportunities for Americans over 55 by increasing slots for them in AmeriCorps and involving them in other volunteer organizations.”

        No need to worry about not having enough money to retire then either. Every time I think my opinion of this woman can’t sink any lower she excavates a new sub basement under what I previously thought were rock bottom expectations.

        1. NYPaul

          Jen, only by eavesdropping on private, not meant for distribution, conversations will you find the real souls of the conversants. Surreptitiously listening in on Hillary’s condescending, truly, schizophrenic advise for, and, opinion of, today’s Millennials, its hard to believe a front line Presidential candidate could, actually, hold those views.

    5. tongorad

      Why, that sounds like a public-private partnership. And a disruptive one at that. How innovative. The Uberization of volunteerism.

      But not really. Volunteerism, wasn’t that the Victorian answer for social inequality?

  16. Jim Haygood

    Today’s Fear & Greed Index: 45 Neutral (previous close: 38, Fear)

    These apprehensive readings occurred with the S&P 500 less than 2% below its Aug 15th record … and less than 1% from a record at today’s close.

    Contrarian analysis says this can’t be the end of the epic Bubble III, in which stocks have more than tripled. When a run this big ends, stocks are all that anyone talks about. Just like real estate in 2006. We need a Business Week cover crowing “Equities to the Stars, And Beyond!!!”

    In other words, the whole market needs to party like Amazon to fulfill our Bubble III destiny. AMZN chart:

    http://tinyurl.com/hwgpl2a

  17. BecauseTradition

    The Banks: “The countries where cash is on the verge of extinction”

    Oh, but the extinction of cash will make things crystal clear! To wit: The citizens of a country MAY NOT use their nation’s fiat AT ALL but must instead work through a government-privileged usury cartel.

    That’s nearly the case now in the US but the banks still have a fig leaf to cover their indecency; when it’s gone they’ll stand naked as a cartel of pirates between the citizens and their money, good ole fiat.

  18. Jim Haygood

    People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public.” — Adam Smith

    Barack 0bama was anxious to jet back home after speaking at the funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres on Friday. There was just one problem: Bill Clinton wouldn’t get on the plane.

    “Let’s go!” 0bama shouted to Clinton from the threshold of the airplane door. Visibly antsy, 0bama retreated back into the plane but still motioned Clinton to get aboard.

    0bama even walked out onto the stairway steps to shout “Bill!” according to video captured by Sky News. “Let’s go. I’ll take you home!”

    Clinton at the time was chatting with Secretary of State John Kerry on the tarmac.

    Finally, Clinton joined 0bama, wrapped his arm around the current president, and as they patted each other’s backs, both entered Air Force One.

    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lets-go-bill-president-clinton-keeps-president-obama-and-air-force-one-waiting-2016-09-30

    The fix is in. (Not that it wasn’t already.)

    1. Roger Smith

      Funny another story ran today… “Loose dog runs onto airport runway…”

      Fortunately his owner got his attention and led him back to safety.

      1. Jim Haygood

        When you can ride with the big dog, you don’t need to cadge “tarmac meetings” with mere cabinet members.

    2. Anne

      Bill’s going to be a problem if Hillary is elected and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if, at some point fairly early on, the Clintons decided to separate.

      You know he’s got to be champing at the bit after keeping himself under control while she ramped up for the campaign and nomination – and she’s no longer going to need him in quite the way she did before. And, if she has any intention of seeking a second term, she’s going to need to have all of that behind her.

      I suppose the other theory is that they have a marriage of mutual assured destruction, with each probably holding onto enough secrets to thoroughly destroy the other, and the only way to protect themselves is to stick together.

      And there’s a lot of money at stake, too. Bill’s going to want to stick around for an even bigger payday at the end of her reign.

      Jesus, these people just make me feel tired and sad…

      1. Pavel

        The Clintons made me feel tired and sad at the end of Bill’s first term. That was a long time ago. Who knew Clinton Fatigue would be a lifelong condition?

        1. Pat

          Not for everyone. Someone just yesterday told me that Bill Clinton was one of America’s greatest Presidents along with JFK, FDR and Lincoln.
          Mind you also couldn’t get them to understand that Russia did not invade the Crimea, despite actually pulling up the news of the overwhelming vote by the area to ask to be annexed.

      2. John Wright

        I don’t know if the Clintons expect a big payday in the future.

        Perhaps they booked the money in advance of the HRC coronation.

        A Clinton divorce and HRC taking back her Rodham name would avoid the confusion of having two Clinton presidential libraries in the future.

        And I expect HRC will want her own Presidential Library.

        The Clinton Global Initiative will lose prominence after the election, either because HRC and the DNC did not bring home the bacon by getting elected or because maintaining CGI is too obvious a conflict of interest for a President.

        If HRC goes the divorce route, she can leave Bill with the CGI as a well-funded consolation prize.

        I find it fitting and ironic that the Clinton Global Initiative shares the same abbreviation as “Computer Generated Imaging” term used in the movie industry.

  19. allan

    If you like your insurance plan premium, you’ll be able to keep your premium.
    After you multiply by 1.5:

    Near ‘Collapse,’ Minnesota Insurers Up Obamacare Rates by Half
    [Bloomberg]

    Minnesota will let the health insurers in its Obamacare market raise rates by at least 50 percent next year, after the individual “exchange” market there came to the brink of collapse, the state’s commerce commissioner said Friday.

    The increases, which range from 50 percent to 67 percent, will affect about 250,000 Minnesotans, Commissioner Mike Rothman’s office said in a statement. Rothman, who regulates the state’s insurers, is an appointee under Governor Mark Dayton, a Democrat. …

    Illinois has similar increases. For the companies that are remaining.

    As McCoy used to say, it’s dead, Jim.

    1. timbers

      As McCoy used to say, it’s dead, Jim. That’s been replaced by a line out of John Carpenter’s The Thing: “Its gone, McCready.” “Well then fix it.” “It’s GONE!”

    2. Pat

      Oops. Thinking that isn’t going to do Clinton any favors. I’m not sure we need ‘incremental changes’ to ACA is going to offset that news.

    3. OIFVet

      Earlier this week I had to select a new exchange plan for my mother after the insurance commissioner of Illinois put Land of Lincoln out of its misery. I had to spend several hours, again, talking to customer service about the website’s maddening refusal to agree to the special enrollment period it had notified me about, and then trying to sort the merely crappy crap from the positively diarrhea-like crap. It is a mission impossible in the absence of a crystal ball that would let you peak into your future health. In the end, as I do during every enrollment period, I had acquired enough rage to bring back recurring homicidal visions of taking 0bamacare out for a walk, torturing it for hours, and then emptying a whole pistol clip into its buggy user interface on the off-chance that this might finally rid us of this expressway to medical bankruptcy court.

      Alas, I will have to repeat the process only 6 short weeks from now…

      1. allan

        You have my sympathies. We are going through a similar situation. Adult child #1 had Land of Lincoln blow up (dead as of today), signed up for a new plan on the Illinois exchange (Harken), and then had Harken announce a few days ago that it’s pulling out as of January. So, in a month, a week before the election, it’ll be time for our empowered health care insurance consumer to go shopping on the smoking wreckage of the Illinois exchange. And then, come 1/1/2017, it’ll be the third network and set of providers in three months.

        Clearly Putin’s fault.

    1. nippersdad

      The photos look just like it. I thought it looked a little more…robust than the ones we have around here (Solanum Carolinense, apparently).

  20. Kim Kaufman

    ““‘I trust Hillary on this,’ Sen. Sherrod Brown said Thursday. ”

    Old joke:

    how do you say “f*** you” in Hollywood?
    Answer: “Trust me.”

    1. polecat

      Didn’t Sherrod Brown first get elected on the basis of being a ‘progressive ,,, and NOT a ‘Blue-Dog Democrat ??? or am I thinking of someone else ?

      1. John Wright

        Sherrod Brown is viewed by some liberals I know as an Elizabeth Warren ally and as a progressive.

        He is from a state (Ohio) where supporting the TPP is a political liability.

        His statement is illuminating in that it is qualified by the “on this” suggesting that there are other matters where Brown does NOT trust Hillary.

        If Obama gets the TPP done during the lame duck session, then HRC will not have to worry about undermining Brown’s trust in her.

  21. allan

    The “Pardon Snowden” Case Just Got Stronger [Cato]

    Yesterday, the Department of Justice Inspector General (DoJ IG) issued a long overdue Congressionally-mandated report on FBI compliance with the PATRIOT Act’s Section 215 “business records” provision between 2012 and 2014. It is the first such report issued that covers the initial period of Edward Snowden’s revelations about widespread domestic mass surveillance by the federal government. Since his indictment for leaking the information to the press, Snowden’s lawyers have argued that he should not be prosecuted under the WW I-era Espionage Act because his revelations served the public interest. The DoJ IG report provides the clearest evidence yet that Snowden’s lawyers are correct (p. 6): …

    On a not-unrelated note, the MSM reviews of Oliver Stone’s Snowden have been almost uniformly poor to mediocre. USA Today gave it 2 stars out of 4, as opposed to 3.5 for Suicide Squad (!). There’s still lots of hate out there for having pulled the curtain back.

  22. cwaltz

    So if I’m to believe Donald Trump then Melania’s foray into modeling nude isn’t a big deal but I should be appalled by Alicia Machado’s sex tape and believe she has bad character because of it. You gotta love it when male chauvinist pigs rationalize.

    1. Pat

      He is truly over the edge on this. . And that’s from someone who thinks the discussion should recognize that meeting a limited standard of beauty was the major part of her job description for Machado which she failed to uphold, AND that Miss Universe by its very nature was misogynist, beyond Trump’s clearly abusive response to that failure. (And now his response to that criticism.)

      1. cwaltz

        His position that it’s okay to malign women because of their appearance is a big turn off. I’m surprised his female campaign manager hasn’t duct taped his mouth shut at this point(unless his goal is to alienate every female voter besides his wife and Ivanka.)

        (and yes I would agree that a competition that essentially treats women like they are art objects and insists that a woman can not change her appearance for the duration of her “reign” is misogynistic in nature.)

        1. pat

          Maybe he doesn’t want to win, h/t to Yves. But if there is a clear rational reason for his refusing to drop this, I can’t see it.

          1. alex morfesis

            no one bothered talking about the depo tape that he knew was going to be released today…trumpf…misogynist or pure genius…me not going 2 vote 4 him but gotta give it 2 him 4 playing with the clickbait 2 avoid any real review of his thinking…

        2. OpenThePodBayDoorsHAL

          I seem to recall Hilary “maligning” tens of thousands of Yemeni, Libyan, Iraqi, and Afghani women to death.
          Sticks and stones (and drones) will break my bones but words will never hurt me.

          1. cwaltz

            Actually words indeed can harm people.

            Body image is a real issue for young women and bloviating blowhards make it worse when they make comments on women when they gain weight.

            As I stated, someone should duct tape his mouth shut unless his intention at this point is to apologize for his rude commentary.

              1. cwaltz

                Who says she didn’t have body image issues when she entered? (Machado has stated that she was battling bulimia and anorexia while she was Miss Universe.)

                You can be pretty and still have a distorted image of yourself and your worth as a person by the way- that’s why it’s called a distorted self image.

                I don’t know why she entered the contest(and to me the why she did it is pretty irrelevant), I do know that it’s unacceptable(and pretty darn unprofessional) to call someone Miss Piggy because they’ve gained weight. Ever. To anyone.

                1. Lambert Strether Post author

                  Not me. I would submit “beauty contests” as such reinforce body image problems in young women, one reason they’re pernicious. If Machado cared about that issue, she shouldn’t have participated in the first place.

        3. Yves Smith

          Beauty contest competitors and models are in the business of selling their looks, so I view them as fair game. But the way the Donald is going about trying to defend himself is clearly a really bizarre bad personal reflex. He did in the debate say “This is entertainment” but rather than elaborating on that meme and talking about how male models and athletes have to adhere to weight standards too or they are out of a job, he goes on an unhinged personal attack.

          1. Anne

            What Donald fails to grasp is that the women who participate in these contests/pageants are not just prime cuts of meat in stiletto heels, they are human beings who deserve respect.

            On top of that, he is incapable of allowing anyone to have the last word, and seems to be driven nearly mad in the quest to prove that he is right and everyone who disagrees with him is wrong.

            I suspect that underneath these massive displays of ego is a man who is deeply and painfully insecure, and the farther he goes in this race, the more he has to control that insecurity with bigger and more outlandish displays.

            You couldn’t pay me enough to have to wrangle someone so damaged.

          2. cwaltz

            He could have made this a non issue by saying something like we all may say and do regrettable things at one point or another and I’m sorry that my words hurt Machado. My intent was to try and get her to lose weight so that she could fulfill her role(his campaign manager says he tried to give her a second chance instead of outright firing her)Instead of that he goes into some tirade about her character because of a “sex tape” which is ironic considering he has appeared in soft core porn and his wife has modeled nude(which I’m not part of the prude police so I could care less about beyond the double standard and hypocrisy it shows.)

            *shakes head and gets out a roll of duct tape to hand to Kellyanne Conaway*

          3. Lambert Strether Post author

            The exchange also shows that Trump can’t improvise well, or he improvises driven by bad (self-destructive) impulses.

            Whoever got Clinton to set Trump up for this deserves a bonus. They read him carefully, and played him.

            1. OpenThePodBayDoorsHAL

              That’s why the town hall format for the next debate should be lousy for Donald.
              With Bush and his faux cowboy schtick stupid talk was considered “folksy” but The Don needs a different New York archetype other than “billionaire” to pull it off…maybe “Tony Soprano”?

        4. Lambert Strether Post author

          Professional athletes are often contractually obligated to maintain their weight. I don’t see why beauty queens are any different.

          Personally, I find the idea that you can collect prize money for your appearance — that’s what a beauty contest is, after all — and then decide to change that which you collected the money for bizarre in the extreme. Imagine I won a prize for my brilliant command of the French language, and contracted to do a nationwide tour. Then I decide that I don’t really want to speak French, but German. And do so.

          I also find the entire idea of beauty contests repellent, but if you want to buy into the concept, stick with the rules.

          1. cwaltz

            Is the appropriate and professional response to someone who is not fulfilling the contractual obligations for the job they were hired to call them names like Ms. Piggy?

            It’s one thing to tell someone that if they don’t do x then they will be fired…..it’s entirely another to verbally berate them, name call, and make them feel like they don’t have value as a human being.

    2. Lambert Strether Post author

      Machado is the Khan debacle all over again:

      1) Trump can’t let go and move on (self-indulgent);

      2) The controversy sucks up news cycles (poor use of candidate time);

      3) The refutation is ready to hand, and it’s not even college-debate level refutation (can’t think on his feet):

      a) The Khans: “Their son died in Hillary’s war”

      b) Machado: “That was the contract she signed.”*

      * Assuming Machado’s contract was typical of a professional atheletes.

    1. Lambert Strether Post author

      This is amazing:

      And on the other side, there’s just a deep desire to believe that we can have free college[1], free healthcare[2], that what we’ve done hasn’t gone far enough, and that we just need to, you know, go as far as, you know, Scandinavia, whatever that means, and half the people don’t know what that means, but it’s something that they deeply feel.

      “[W]hat we’ve done hasn’t gone far enough” is amazing. And of course it’s got to be about “feelings,” and not about policy differences. And having othered and infantilized the Sanders voters, it’s now perfectly OK to smear them all as racist and sexist #BernieBros. Which she does. Just revolting.

      NOTES
      [1] Like Germany

      [2] Like Canada

  23. Brad

    This is almost as bad as bashing Trump for violating the criminal embargo on Cuba. There’s lot’s to bash Trump on, why this?

    “When confronted on Meet the Press with the fact that he couldn’t win but could affect the outcome, he replied with insouciance, “Some parties need wrecking” [Elizabeth Drew, New York Review of Books]. “The reckless egotism that leads some people to put themselves in a position to distort the outcome of a presidential race.” I love that “distort the outcome.” Drew’s decline — and NYRB’s decline — has become sadly evident”

    1. jgordon

      Maybe there just isn’t a lot to bash Trump on on any more, so they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel for non issues like this.

      The Hillary campaign just realized that the voters who were turned off by Trump’s nasty mouth are all already out of his camp but it’s still far from enough to get Hillary elected. Desperate!

Comments are closed.