159 Comments
Aug 22Liked by Jay Kuo

For having a non-verbal learning disorder I’d say Gus Walz spoke volumes of love and respect last night❣️ Beautiful!!!

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Seeing Gus cry last night got me choked up. Anyone who snark-insulted him has a dark heart. Pity them.

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I do not pity them. They are despicable and disgusting.

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Dark heart? Neither Coulter and Crispi have hearts, nor do they have souls. As for that conservative rag--Blaze, was it? They OUGHT to be thoroughly ashamed of themselves--especially where they would be the first to be "outraged" if a Dem leaning paper published such sentiments about ANY of the Trump spawn or to be more apt, about JD Vance's (or whatever his name is) kids. But then, it's quite unlikely that Vance's kids will end up being as proud of their father as Tim Walz's family is of Tim.

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It reminds me of the people who made fun of a young man some years ago who was an Edmonton Oilers fan and had something (not sure if it was Downs syndrome or he had a learning disorder) but he would belt out "O, Canada" with tremendous enthusiasm. The vast majority of people were very understanding and thought it was wonderful that he was enjoying hockey so much, but there were always some shriveled up prunes of people who didn't want to see that on the game broadcasts.

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Aug 22Liked by Jay Kuo

There is another strong theme, very personal for me. STRONG MEN RESPECT STRONG WOMEN. Barak's adoration and admiration for Michelle was shining, Doug's fierce pride for Kamala was breathtaking, and The Coach's unwavering willingness to have Kamala's back is earthshaking. For those of us who have quietly battled misogyny over and over and over again, I say BRAVO to these strong men who would consider me their equal. (In memory of my father who believed I could do anything, and of my husband who insisted to all that I was his equal every minute of every day for 52 years.)

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I can't speak for other men, but I suspect at least some of us who respect strong women consider women the superior gender. That's not an anti-man bash, just, in my case, my general attitude. Men are the emotional ones (how many women get into bar fights?), and, don't even get me started on how I'd react if I suddenly discovered I was pregnant. That'd be ugly. I could name a hundred other things, seriously.

I loved Doug's story about the blind date, and how Kamala plays the voice message for their anniversaries. It was a great story overall, anyway, but that was the icing.

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I also loved the line where he said his mom was the only person who thought Kamala was the one getting the better deal :)

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And I don't remember that as being so prominent in 2016, maybe because Dobbs hadn't happened yet, or maybe because Hillary's husband had literally been the President already... Kamala also reads as feminine in a way Hillary didn't, which actually opens the door for male speakers to celebrate her as a strong woman where Hillary was kind of "one of the boys".

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PREACH, Sister! 👏👏👏👏🙌

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AMEN!

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Indeed. Kudos to your dad and husband. Wise men.

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❤️❤️❤️

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The party of hate's reaction to Gus was despicable, and perfectly fitting for the satanic-based religious view they've adopted. Meanwhile, I'm finding it necessary to fact-check the so-called fact-checkers, which is another weird development in this campaign.

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So true. Anyone who could watch Gus and then scream "North Korea vibes" and "weird" is a hateful idiot.

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The "fact checkers" are minions of the pundit class, who are becoming known for what they truly are - nit picking nannies or ninnies, depending on the comment. They are paid by organizations who have spent more time frowning and tutting over perceived lies and slights perpetrated by Democrats than pointing out, and shouting from the roof tops, the lies and treasonous actions of the MAGA party. Now these stalwart papers and off shoots wonder why people are canceling their subscriptions on a daily basis? These are not "fact checkers," they are lie enhancers.

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Not only canceling subscriptions but also turning away from network news providers. Surely their ratings reflect that...?

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The ratings are over-rated…

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Maybe so, Jason, but like polls, they do tend to spotlight trends.

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Where are these "fact checkers" showing up? I haven't heard about this in the past. I think PBS does fact checking, but haven't had the energy to follow up on that.

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New York Times, Washington Post, Politico, and others - also some of the news networks, but I can't speak to that. Yes there is a pattern and it all points to the right. The problem is, as is pointed out in this article, the "fact checkers" aka lie enhancers can't be trusted, they are doing their masters' bidding.

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Well, that just sucks (excuse my language)!

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No apologies necessary. You just wrote the truth.

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The WaPo fact checker Glenn Kesler is obviously a far right republican. He called the pregnant child in Ohio false.

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I'm pleased that the 3 jerks who posted ugly comments about him received so much negative reaction that they deleted their X posts.

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I violated my personal resolve to not use twitter/X I went to Coulter's page and told her what a vile piece of shit she is

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Saaaaaaaame. I had to unblock both she and Laura Loomer so I could let ‘em know what I thought of them. Then I reblocked. 😂

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Bet you weren't alone.

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Too bad there's not an LOL button for your comment.

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Your system emojis should work here - mine do!

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I'm on my laptop and haven't seen emoji choices.

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I'm on a Macbook, and emojis and symbols plus a keyboard viewer are in the Mac toolbar at the very top left. In any case, you def have system emojis in your computer somewhere.

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depending on the browser you can right click and it is the first option on the menu.

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👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👍

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These comments are as infuriating as they are heartless. These people have no heart. They have no soul. Their pretended display of shame by deleting them, is phony as hell, as one commenter pointed out, the internet never forgets!

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Ah, but the internet remembers forever. Although I've already forgotten their names. I need a memory chip.

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It’s a blessing, from my front porch seat, not to have your beautiful brain contaminated by their names demanding to be remembered.

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More like my old, rotting corpse of a brain that doesn't hold up well when viewing tweets by insane people. :-)

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You are a gem!

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And thank you, that's nice of you to say.

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"like bait!" :-)

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Cowards…😡

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author

These fact checkers are trying to be fair and balanced when one side lies constantly

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¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I don't see how "fair and balanced" applies - lies are lies and facts are facts. They are non-partisan and don't care whose side you are on. If you're gonna be a fact-checker, then do it. I realize it's hard work when there are SO MANY lies to deal with, but that's the job.

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I think Jay is saying his comment with a very heavy sigh and big time eye roll.

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Aug 22Liked by Jay Kuo

The right's reaction was 100% predictable, too.

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Yep! It’s who they are and where they live. In darkness. The light is painful to them because they are empty.

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Well the media is certainly not fact checking the maga cult members.

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Read Judd Legum’s Substack post of a couple days ago about the factchecking industry.

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“The party of hate's reaction to Gus was despicable, and perfectly fitting for the satanic-based religious view they've adopted.” Nothing new here. I must wonder about all the positive people exclaiming what a great country we are when so many citizens support someone like Trump b

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Since you are the fact checker, please help me understand something. Last night, to get a different perspective I foolishly went to CNN where they insist on always having one lying, dumbass, wet blanket republican. So the smug asshole last night keep saying he wasn’t worried since the Orange Cloaca was still leading in the polls. Huh? Quick aside: how can a Cloaca have bone spurs?

So, I follow the polls, not to see what the percentages are but to see the trend. Yet, from what I’m seeing Madam Harris is leading nationally and leading or tied in the swing states. So what am I missing?

Now a technical question for those that know even basic statistics: We keep hearing that in many of these polls they are is within the confidence interval without telling us what the confidence interval is. I’m assuming this confidence interval is based upon Frequentist Statics with an interval extending to a 95% gate. I do not want to get deep into statistical theory so I’ll just use the word gate, meaning that if one is to reject the null hypothesis of no difference between candidates, one has to exceed this 95% gate.

What if one has reached 94%. Sorry, no difference according to the pollsters. Bullshit. For those, like me relying on Decision Science, tell me what the damn confidence interval is.

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Ah, I'm not a real fact checker. Just an annoyed reader. I assume you're referring to Scott Jennings. He isn't really a Republican, he's a MAGA. My Republican friends tell me there's a difference.

Part of the MAGA process for ANYTHING is begin an argument with a false premise. From there, there's no way to move forward in an argument. Therefore, he lies about polls, and what is there to say about that when anyone attempts to debate him?

That is the essence of all MAGA arguments. Begin the debate with a lie. It is very difficult to debate someone who doesn't begin with an honest premise.

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Before I stopped watching CNN completely, Scott Jennings made me want to throw a brick at the TV! The lies were one thing; the fact that the rest of the cowards had no response to the lies was the last straw for me. As far as I am concerned, CNN deserves to crash and burn!

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"Made me want to throw a brick at my TV"is the reason I stay the hell away from TV news,I'd soon have a yardful of busted up TV's chucked out through windows.

It just astounds me to see how they fawn over the biggest damned liar in modern times,like they think he's something "special".But run their mouths to excess when a Dem sneezes out of turn.Then they break out the microscope and nitpick for literally days on end.There's no way in hell I'd be going along with that.

I hope Kamala Harris and Tim Walz beats the stuffing out of those puffed up fake liars.We need change,and not a minute too soon.

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I know you are not a real fact checker but your post provided me an opportunity to vent a little. Not Jennings who is also a real jerk, it was another idiot but do not remember his name since, for the most part, I’ve given up on and forgetting CNN.

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I rarely watch CNN, either. Or Fox, of course. Or even MSNBC. Not a fan of the talking heads unless they sing.

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I was so grateful to one Jay Kuo commenter (I think on FB, not here) who pointed out that we could watch the Democratic National Convention on YouTube WITHOUT the talking heads. ZERO commentary. It was such a relief because even PBS annoyed the hell out of me. If he/she is reading this, THANK YOU!!!

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Yeah, I have been watching it on CSPAN. I tried CNN for about 5 minutes and my head nearly exploded.

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So did I 🙂

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Can’t answer your statistical questions but I did get a good laugh over your orange cloaca descriptor of felonious trump. Haven’t run into a cloaca since my 10th grade biology class a long, long time ago when we dissected our frogs 😁.

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I didn’t mean to demean frogs with my description since frogs have some redeeming characteristics, unlike the Orange Cloaca.

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Damn. Excuse my typos but I think the point I’m making still can be understood.

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Aug 22Liked by Jay Kuo

As a grandmother of two neurodivergent teens, all I can say is, anyone who criticizes Gus is a grinch who has a heart ten sizes too small.

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Or no heart at all. Those Twitter remarks, even though they were deleted, are purely disgusting, totally bottom of the barrel, even for those weirdos.

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As has often been stated, "the cruelty is the point." 🤬

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Glad that they got so many nasty responses to their posts that they deleted them.

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People are just getting fed up with the hate, and that is a good thing.

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Each night just gets better. Tonight is going to be Fucking Amazing.

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I’m wondering if Miss Swift will come & bring the ‘storm’ ? *fingers crossed*

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I certainly plan to be watching on MSNBC. I disagree with those who have complained about the commentators interfering with the speakers & performers. After reading those comments, I watched closely last night. There are brief intervals between speakers while we await the next one. I took a look, briefly at C-SPAN when the commentators were on and those periods were pretty much 'dead air'.

The MSNBC commentators were on only between speakers and immediately returned to the convention when the next person or performers came onto the stage. I appreciate the informed, knowledgeable comments and observations from people like Lawrence O'Donnell, Nicole Wallace, Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes, Joy Reid and the others.

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Aren’t we fortunate that there are ample options so that we can choose what suits each of us best? I need a moment in between to cleanse the palate. Neither is right or wrong. We need different things. And that’s ok.

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Well, as much as I rely on the MSNBC night crew, when Joy Reid was over-talking a speaker on stage on the first night, I sought one of the alternatives. I can’t get C-Span so went to YouTube. Thought I was subscribed but get these maddening random pop-up ads 2 in a row during important speeches.

Then my most reliable Lawrence O’Donnell was complaining that all the electeds spoke too long, especially on the first night, pushing Hillary and Barack past East Coast prime time. I thought the first night electeds were great, but maybe Lawrence has a point.

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rumors are flying.

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A while back I checked her tour schedule. She’s open … 🤞🏻

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Aug 22·edited Aug 22

Last night was perfect, and Gus Walz's in my new hero. It was all in all great.

But I need to point out that today might be overshadowed by the fact that the DNC is not allowing a Palestinian-American to speak. Already Muslim Women for Harris/Walz is disbanding, and the UAW have sent a letter condemning the DNC for it's actions. This race is going to be close, and omitting a large voting block is not a good choice. I just sent an email to the DNC about this. If we want to be the big tent we claim to be, all voices must be included. Let them speak!

EDIT - JAY! If you have any direct contacts at the DNC I urge you to use it and relay our concerns about this. I just saw that the DNC is only offering to "meet with leaders" at a later date. Biden tried that approach, and it failed miserably. This is serious.

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I'm hoping this gets fixed today. One excuse I heard was that some of them were burning American flags last night. Fine, find someone who wasn't. It's not like there's a shortage of families affected by Netanyahu's genocidal policies. My support for Kamala is unwavering, but she should personally intervene and fix this. Hell, if she has to, tell someone to send a car with a loudspeaker through Dearborn, MI asking for a speaker, then hurry them on over to the United Center.

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They gave the DNC a list of respected Palestinians, and agreed to let the DNC vet the content of the speech. My support for Harris will not change either.

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Yes, I saw that, but it would be naive to assume that anyone they vet or approve will absolutely, positively not go off script. The DNC needs to be okay with that, and needs to take the risk of a disruptive speech. It won't kill them. I believe not having a Palestinian voice dilutes the image of inclusiveness the Dems have done such a brilliant job of creating.

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It really could be a disaster if they are not allowed to speak. Even the Jewish speakers have said they should be allowed to speak

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I think they'll end up getting their speaker (and given the platforming of the hostage's parents they should), but this is the consequence of placing yourself against the party all year. They gave the media an anti-Biden narrative around the New Hampshire and Michigan primaries, they risked undermining a sense of public order in an election year with campus protests, and they've spent the past six months promoting the idea that this convention would be like 1968 - a disaster that is generally perceived as having put another criminal President in the White House.

I believe that they're specifically asking for an uncommitted delegate to be given a speaking slot (they've been demanding this the whole time), essentially asking to be rewarded for undermining a perception of "Democrats in Array" with an opportunity to inevitably undermine a convention that's been all about "Democrats in Array", with the implicit threat that if they don't get what they want they'll throw the election to Donald Trump. It's really irrelevant what their cause is - a group that behaves that way shouldn't expect to get platformed by the DNC.

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It's almost like we should have been listening to their concerns this whole time, wouldn't you agree? This whole thing started because democrats we not willing to listen to them, or were paying only lip service to their concerns. Now you want to blame them for how they reacted to being ignored? Over 14,000 dead children in Gaza.

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Aug 22·edited Aug 22

When have Democrats not listened to them? When have Democrats not acknowledged or platformed suffering in Gaza? Both Biden and Harris have made it abundantly clear that they want the war to end now, that suffering in Gaza is important to them, and that these specific protests have been heard (including Biden doing so on Monday night as the protesters turned their backs on him in the crowd anyway).

Working for months on a multilateral ceasefire agreement that would contain a pathway to a Palestinian State is not lip service, it's literally the Administration's #1 foreign policy goal. This whole thing started because a group of Democrats decided to use the media's desire to sow doubt and anxiety to try to force a change in the Democratic platform to eliminate all aid to Israel, and because they knew that wouldn't get much support they lied and said this was about a "ceasefire" knowing darn well that Biden was already calling for one, and in fact had already negotiated one that lasted for six weeks.

Since they weren't being ignored, I can't blame them for their reaction to it. I'm blaming them for lying about their actual agenda (BDS), then refusing to be satisfied by the intense and dedicated effort they got from Biden, Harris, and the Party because (a) it wasn't what they actually wanted; and (b) they want to keep the pressure on to get what they actually want.

This convention has the clear goal of making progressivism comfortable for people put off in the past by in-your-face activism from a left-wing that explicitly prioritized making people uncomfortable. I don't think I can blame the DNC for not platforming the very thing they're trying to say they're not.

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This is the first time I am hearing of this, and yes, it must be fixed. The Harris team needs to get on this immediately and allow a Palestinian invoice to be heard.

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That’s definitely not good. We can’t afford to lose large groups of people, and we shouldn’t want to be silencing, or not listening to representatives of those groups. I hope it is worked out to a posituve solution.

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Finally, a comment about the government-approved mass slaughter in Gaza...the DNC speakers dancing around that festering sore reminded me of the old Fawlty Towers sketch, "The Germans", where Basil Fawlty spoke the memorable line, "Don't mention the War...I did, but I think I got away with it". Strictly verboten here at the speaker's rostrum, and whenever people - the very few people - tried to bring up US complicity in the wanton murder that is the Israeli assault on Gaza, they were shouted down by chants of USA! USA! USA!, right out of a tRump MAGA rally.

Sorry, not sorry, low point of the Convention, full stop.

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I just want to point out that whatever you think about current US policy in Gaza, that A) there is no reason to think Netanyahu will mitigate his insanity because Biden asks him to; and B) if The Convict gets elected, there will be NO restraints on Bibi's behavior, and there will be ACTUAL genocide in Gaza.

We have zero leverage over Israeli policy on this subject, and there is no reason to expect that to change. Bibi, like The Convict, is trying to stay outta jail.

Also keep in mind that making receipt of military aid contingent upon the recipient "doing us a favor" is why we all thought The Convict should be, and was, impeached the first time.

You want to tack because you don't like the way the wind shifted, be my guest - but don't insist the POTUS do the same. As I have pointed out in this forum before - that military aid was mandated by an act of Congress, and is therefore the law. And this POTUS, unlike the previous one, obeys the law.

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"...zero leverage..."? Oh, please, pull the other one!

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Response unclear - please explain.

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Aug 22·edited Aug 22

Another theme I think has played through all three nights is "love thy neighbor" - a biblical principle that underpins how the Democrats have reclaimed a lot of traditional Republican ground beyond talk of freedom and patriotism (they somehow actually claimed high school football last night). Probably a third of the speakers - not any of them Republicans - have essentially admonished the audience to humanize Trump voters, including most of the big names.

I think that illustrates a surprising and underrated element of this ticket: Tim Walz is becoming the ideological shaman of the entire party. He's not just viral one-liners and dad jokes - his framing of progressive policies as taking care of neighbors is fresh and effective and sets up the Democrats of 2025 and beyond to truly embrace Social Democracy, without any of the aggressiveness and demonization that characterize groups like the DSA. Kamala works in part because she has basically no ideological identity - she didn't need to establish one in a primary (and never did in 2019) - and her policies follow the same majoritarian approach of Biden, who also sold himself as non-ideological in 2020 before putting a premium on bipartisanship and compromise to achieve his legislative agenda.

Kamala's appeal is personal, not ideological, but the lack of a clear "Harrisism" leaves the door open for Walz's Midwestern neighborliness - sold through emotion rather than rhetoric - to become the core ideology of the campaign, and to her credit Kamala immediately embraced it (and chose Walz in the first place because of how culturally salient he rapidly became in July). It allows the ticket to run on principles and personality rather than policy, but sets them up to accomplish a lot of social democratic policies if they choose to (and have a Democratic Congress to pass them). It's the exact same approach that has worked very well for Walz in Minnesota.

Biden's stump speech pushed the idea that trickle-down economics would be dead if he won, but even as he was hailed for moving the Democrats past their post-Reagan corporatism, he never really found the sales pitch for what he was replacing it with. Walz has.

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Good point, and well put

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Aug 22Liked by Jay Kuo

thank you Jay for breaking it down, I along with thousands of others felt the excitement, and emotional impact of the speakers, speeches, and messages. And of course the one and only Stevie Wonder! The best decision Kamala made was choosing Tim Walz as her running mate! Finally can see the light, FREEDOM is on the line and united we will make it happen! Already seeing positive changes in the Florida primaries!!!! Going all the way with BLUE!!!!!!

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Aug 22Liked by Jay Kuo

Well Thanks to this column, I now know the names of other stupid people on the right. I was crying as much as Gus was. What a sweet moment about Gusm who was so proud of his Dad, he was emotional with tears. God Bless him. I can only say, my Dad never made me that proud!

We have to win!

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I cried, too... OMG! Think about how long it's been since any of us have seen any MAGA family actually act affectionate, much less love each other to the point of tears? Which of TFG's kids has ever cried from love?

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ANYONE who wasn't in tears watching Gus Walz crying out of sheer pride that 'That's my DAD!!!' has a brain full of worms and a heart made of stone.

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When Governor Walz took the stage, I also saw tears on the cheeks of Mrs. Walz and daughter Hope. They simply weren't as overt as Gus.

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As a rule, mid-westerners aren't prone to emotional displays, but when the occasion is right, it's right!

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Aug 22Liked by Jay Kuo

I loved how Gus was showing just how much he loves his dad. I was crying right along with him. Then when he said "that's my dad", the spicket was open full on. They are such an awesome family!

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I also saw tears on the cheeks of Mrs. Walz and sister Hope. They just weren't as overt as Gus.

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Aug 22Liked by Jay Kuo

I am the parent of a neurodivergent kid. Well. he's not a kid, he's 36. He's had challenges too, but he has worked so hard to conquer those challenges.

I knew, I just KNEW the republican cretins would jump on Gus with nasty shit that does not do anything to enhance their chances of retaking the white house. the tweets were removed after the severe backlash they generated. But it's the internet and things live forever.

I hope Gov and Mrs. Walz can find a way to shield him from the worst of the right's bullshit, cause you just know that these disgusting tweets and comments are going to continue. I can't wait to see what they come up with for memes.

waiting on a baby to exit the pool is pretty hard. she sets her own timetable.

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Aug 22Liked by Jay Kuo

More like a giant bearhug than a wallop!!! Thanks, Jay - I watched the whole evening and still am glad to read what you have to say in your description - "feels" indeed!!!

Let's keep it going and go for a LANDSLIDE up and down the ballot!!!!

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Thank you so much Jay for this awesome piece. Thank you for the clips to make it easy to see and hear the best. Your “theme” focus is brilliant.

The three tweets putting down Walz’s son were beyond despicable - but what else would we expect from followers of the one who made fun of special needs folks. While I’m glad they took them down, I feel we should continue to share them - are these the kind of people you want as leaders if you’re independent, undecided or a Kennedy supporter? God, I hope not.

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Aug 22Liked by Jay Kuo

OMG, you hit every corner, every nerve with this one. So much more low balling to come. Stay on message, we need to make it to November together.

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Aug 22·edited Aug 22

I saw an article by one of our local TV news stations with a headline that said fact checkers found quite a few errors in the three minute speech given by our Gov. Polis. Truthfully, I didn't read the article because I was too appalled by their claim and concerned it was written at the behest of Scripps corporate overlords. During that three minutes, Polis pulled pages out of the Project 2025 book and shared them, citing the page number for each one., some focusing on family issues, gay and straight (Polis is gay). The one that stood out for me said a family would only be defined as one man and one woman where only the man worked. Anyone have any thoughts/facts on these so-called inaccurate facts?

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