Lazy Saturday Reads: A Shocking Day In Politics
Posted: October 8, 2016 Filed under: morning reads, U.S. Politics | Tags: Central Park Five, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Racism, Sexism, sexual assault, Sexual harassment 94 Comments 
Good Afternoon!!
Yesterday was the worst day in politics that I can recall seeing in my many years of following politics closely. The closest thing I can remember is the “Saturday Night Massacre” in October 1973, when Nixon fired Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox along with Attorney General Elliot Richardson and his deputy William D. Ruckelshaus. That was a shocking day.
Yesterday was a shocking day, and not just because of the video of Donald Trump degrading women and bragging about sexually assaulting them. Anyone who has paid any attention to Trump’s behavior over the past year and to his career before running for POTUS should have understood this is the kind of man he is. Just this year Trump has repeated defended Roger Ailes for sexually harassing and abusing women at Fox News.
And does anyone actually believe that there isn’t plenty more video demonstrating Trump’s abusive behavior?
Trump’s treatment of women has been well known over the years. In May, the New York Times published a lengthy article with example after example of Trump’s sexist and abusive behavior toward women. It sunk like a stone as the Times and the rest of the media focused on Hillary Clinton’s emails and then the Clinton Foundation.
But the shocking video released yesterday was not the only shocking revelation that came out. Trump also stated that he still believes the Central Park Five–African American and Hispanic teenagers who were wrongly convicted and served full sentences for raping a jogger in Central Park in 1989–are guilty, even though they were exhonerated by DNA evidence and the confession of the real perpetrator. NBC News New York:
Félix Vallotton, The Reader
Donald Trump stepped back into one of the most racially charged controversies in New York City history this week, saying he still believed the “Central Park Five” were guilty.
Two years after a judge approved a $41 million settlement with the five men, Trump told CNN they should not have been exonerated, after one of the men said he was hoping for an apology from the Republican presidential nominee.
“They admitted they were guilty,” Trump told CNN in a statement. “The police doing the original investigation say they were guilty.” ….
Following their arrest, Trump took out full-page ads in the city’s newspapers calling for New York to bring back the death penalty, though he did not explicitly say those five defendants should be executed.
And yet, many Republicans–including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan have not withdrawn their support from this man who has and will continue to shame their party and our country. Some Republicans are coming out to say they will no longer vote for Trump, it’s far too little and far too late. These people know who and what Trump was all along. Anyone who hadn’t already denounced him before yesterday are stuck with him.
Georges d’Espangnat
There is no way the GOP can dump Trump from the ticket, and this morning he told Robert Costa of The Washington Post that he will never quit.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said in an interview Saturday that he would not drop out of the race under any circumstances, following calls from several in his party to do so.
“I’d never withdraw. I’ve never withdrawn in my life,” Trump told the Washington Post in a phone call from his home in Trump Tower in New York. “No, I’m not quitting this race. I have tremendous support.”
“People are calling and saying, ‘Don’t even think about doing anything else but running,” Trump said when asked about GOP defections. “You have to see what’s going on. The real story is that people have no idea the support. I don’t know how that’s going to boil down but people have no idea the support.
“Running against her,” Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, makes keeping the party behind him easier, Trump added.
“It’s because she’s so bad. She’s so flawed as a candidate. Running against her, I can’t say it’d be the same if I ran against someone else, but running against her makes it a lot easier, that’s for sure.”
jean-edouard-vuillard
Late last night in his so-called apology, Trump tried to excuse his behavior by claiming that Hillary and Bill Clinton have done far worse to women. If you haven’t seen it, here’s one place to watch it. Rolling Stone:
Trump’s video apology came hours after the Republican nominee dismissed the footage as “locker room talk” and apologized only if “anyone was offended” by the comments.
However, rather than simply apologize, Trump used his video to further blast Bill and Hillary Clinton for alleged previous improprieties. Here’s the full transcript:
I’ve never said I’m a perfect person, nor pretended to be someone that I’m not. I’ve said and done things I regret, and the words released today on this more than a decade-old video are one of them. Anyone who knows me, know these words don’t reflect who I am.
I said it, it was wrong, and I apologize.
I’ve travelled the country talking about change for America. But my travels have also changed me. I’ve spent time with grieving mothers who’ve lost their children, laid off workers whose jobs have gone to other countries, and people from all walks of life who just want a better future. I have gotten to know the great people of our country, and I’ve been humbled by the faith they’ve placed in me. I pledge to be a better man tomorrow, and will never, ever let you down.
Let’s be honest. We’re living in the real world. This is nothing more than a distraction from the important issues we are facing today. We are losing our jobs, we are less safe than we were 8 years ago and Washington is broken.
Hillary Clinton, and her kind, have run our country into the ground.
I’ve said some foolish things, but there is a big difference between words and actions. Bill Clinton has actually abused women and Hillary has bullied, attacked, shamed and intimidated his victims. We will discuss this more in the coming days.
See you at the debate on Sunday.
So bragging about sexually abusing and assaulting women–actions that Trump admitted in the video–are “nothing more than a distraction.” That’s not an apology. And Trump went on to threaten more horrible behavior to come on Sunday night.
jacques emile blanche
There undoubtedly will be more fallout today, but many Republicans are still saying this isn’t a “game-changer.”
Politico: GOP insiders: It’s not a knockout punch.
Leaked audio of Donald Trump making crude, sexually aggressive comments about women has dealt a serious blow to the GOP nominee’s presidential campaign, but swing-state Republican insiders aren’t convinced it will effectively end Trump’s chances in November.
A slim majority of Republican members of The POLITICO Caucus — a panel of activists, strategists and operatives in 11 battleground states — said they don’t think news reports of the Trump tape are a “knockout blow” for the GOP ticket. But while 54 percent of Republicans say Trump can overcome these comments, 46 percent say the New York real-estate magnate’s chances are doomed.
“Trump’s obscene comments might be the straw that broke the camel’s back for evangelical voters, Republican women and any remaining undecided voters,” said a Colorado Republican — who like all insiders, completed the survey anonymously in the hours after the tape of Trump describing trying to sleep with a married woman and boasting that he could kiss and grope women because of his celebrity.
“Our politics is tribal and polarized. So it’s not like this swings the thing 10 points,” a Virginia Republican added. “What it does though, and it has the same impact, is it further devastates Trump amongst women and white college-educated voters, two groups he had to make up big time ground with to even stand a chance of winning. Those windows have now permanently closed.”
We’ll see. Honestly it was hard for me to even write this post, and I’m sure it will be painful to read. It disgusts me that Hillary and here supporters have to deal with this racist, bigoted asshole when we should be celebrating the election of the first woman President of the United States. But I have no doubt that Hillary will maintain her dignity and make us proud again on Sunday night.
In a way it actually seems fitting that this woman who has been attacked for decades in the most disgusting and sexist ways will be the one to save our country from the danger and shame of a President Donald Trump.
I’ll have more links in the comment thread. Please feel free to post your thoughts and links on any topic.
peej
Carissa
bostonboomer
ecocatwoman
grayslady
mablue2
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
Columbia Journalism Review: The media’s Weimar moment
Excerpt:
On Trump:
What doesn’t hold water is when they say, he’s not a politician, he’s a private business man. Everybody knew he was down in the gutter, and they turned their heads, and didn’t care. Everybody heard is supporters being sexist, racist, and violent. And they did nothing. His bad behavior seem to be off topic when it came to the media. They weren’t blinded, they saw, they heard, and then they said he was a Christian, and they forgive him. Really like if a mass murderer apologizes then he doesn’t have to be held accountable, he gets no prison time. But Hillary Clinton on the other, the Christians want her locked up.
Thanks BB, I was livid listening to Trump say yesterday that the Central Park 5 were guilty. What a rat fucker.
Clearly, this man does not want to be president. He is doing everything possible to get himself disqualified, exposed for what he is and hated, he knows he could never follow all the rules that would be imposed on him as president, nor would he want to – he loves his life, just doing what he pleases, when and as he pleases.
Slate:
Mike Pence Is a Coward and an Extremist. He’s the perfect face of the GOP.
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Unless Pence resigns from the ticket, he’s just enabling Trump.
I agree BB……..If Pence stays around he’s an enabler. He should drop off the ticket but he won’t because in his soul he’s no better than Trump. He knew who Trump was when he signed on. May his career go into the tank forever and may he too rest in pieces.
Any “pro-life” man has no more respect for the dignity and autonomy of women than does the serial groper/abuser/rapist. With them, “my body/my decision” doesn’t exist for women.
Agree.
Yup, he certainly is.
Mike Pence has now been dropped from the Wisconsin event with Paul Ryan and others.
Trump “has expressed remorse?” Bullshit. His statement had no remorse in it and shows he doesn’t think his verbal, emotional, and physical assaults on women are wrong. It was a “boys will be boys” statement.
And Pence’s “ten-year old video” statement has, between the lines, said it’s not significant enough to change anything for him. Pence is still on as VP — and potential candidate in 2020.
This was a moment:
Yes. She has been incredible. And CNN took her off the air after she said that! Shame on CNN.
I know.
I was not aware that CNN took her off the air. I woke up in the middle of the night to take some meds and looked at twitter. It was blowing up with her quotes! I was laughing my butt off! Ana Navarro is one of the few left on CNN with any credibility. I guess Zucker is still stacking the deck for Trump.
The rest of the scene here:
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_57f87b4de4b068ecb5debf89?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004
CNN Panel Devolves Into Shouting Match About ‘Pussy’
“Don’t tell me you’re offended when I say ‘pussy,’ but you’re not offended when Donald Trump says it!”
Brava! What does it say when a candidate’s supporter doesn’t want her children to hear what that candidate says?
Trump saying he’d have a tougher time if he was running against someone other than Hillary is laughable. The only reason Hillary isn’t blowing him out of the water are straight white men, period. Many men and a few women will never vote for a woman POTUS and it is the gender factor that is the real impediment to a blowout.
When this is over my wish is that Donald Trump’s brand is so badly damaged that we never have to see his disgusting orange face again. I hope this fiasco damages his business or his con games to the point where he spends his declining years facing the fate that his father saved him from 40 years ago. May he rest in pieces.
Hillary may yet blow him out of the water.
I’m hoping it will happen because nothing will send a louder signal to the GOP than Hillary running the board in the battleground States. 538 has her leading in FL, NC, PA, OH, IA, NV. I want this to be a referendum on the entire GOP brand. They need to understand that American’s support Diversity, Women’s Rights, Choice, Immigration Reform, LGBT rights, The Social Compacts, A Federally sponsored Jobs Program and most of all the Separation of Church & State. Get their rosaries off our ovaries, off of our marriages, off of our Civil rights, off of our Human rights, off of our children, off of our livelihood.
The GOP has sat back for over a year hoping that the haters who support Trump will push Trump to a win and allow them to stay in office another few years, to control the Congress for another term, totally abandoning their moral responsibility to stop this dangerous man from getting in to the White House. They’ve accepted these “deplorables” for their own gain and now it’s at their own peril. May they too REST IN PIECES.
May we have a huge AMEN for that!
Amen, and precisely.
May he rest in pieces.
I love that, Mouse.
I’m a little wound up today Sue. If I could get close to Trump I’d slap him across his big ugly orange face. 🙂
Or maybe grab his tiny little peanuts. And squeeze real hard.
While telling him “What? You don’t like it? Can’t you take a joke?”
The Daily Beast:
Evangelical Leaders Shrug at Donald Trump’s Lewd Comments.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/07/evangelical-leaders-shrug-at-donald-trump-s-lewd-comments.html
Of course…because this is nothing to those hypocrite misogynistic bastards.
Sure, because he sounds just like them at the golf course after Sunday services.
Good post, BB.
Exactly. We’ve all heard too many men talk like that so many times.
HuffPo’s Sam Stein:
It Is Too Late For The GOP To Rid Itself Of The Trump Stench
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-hot-mic_us_57f85ea9e4b0b6a4303277b6
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He’s such a slime ball. All of us have known his type and some of us have had a few encounters where we had to fight them off. He needs his face slapped by every woman in America who’s experienced the sort of harassment that Trump dishes out.
Mouse, I was thinking of slapping him somewhere else.
Or maybe we could kick him somewhere else. 🙂
Both. 😀
I have to post the picture again.
#pussygrabsback on November 8th
Thanks for a bit of humor on a very dark day.
If that’s all we are to him is “pussy”, then we will show him on Nov. 8th what the consequence will be. We’re going to vote against you Donald and send you back to your Throne where you can sit and tweet out what’s left of your pathetic life.
Yes!
Wow, I’m so stoned on pain meds over here I think I looked at that pic 4 times before I got it. That’s awesome.
The Daily Beast:
Donald Trump Tried to Fire Nancy O’Dell After She Rejected His Sexual Advances
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/07/donald-trump-tried-to-fire-nancy-o-dell-after-she-rejected-his-sexual-advances.html
I agree with you, bb. Any of us who have been following this mess are not at all surprised at the things Trump said over a hot mic. I think the reason why so many Republicans and evangelicals are fleeing now is that this time it was not only a white woman, but it was a married white woman. You know, in the minds of white dudes, that’s their property he’s messing with now and they cannot tolerate that. I really believe that’s what has finally drawn the attention of some of his die hard followers.
Thanks for bringing that up. I’ve noticed lots of Republican men talking about “our daughters and wives” as if what Trump has done is to denigrate GOP men’s property. Mitt Romney’s comment was a perfect example.
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Because unmarried women and daughters of non-Republicans are just asking for it.
The wording sounds eerily biblical or Shakespearean or I don’t know what with the “vile degradations” demeaning our wives and daughters. Whatever it is it definitely implies ownership.
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That was pretty awesome.
Love me some De Niro!
On Joy Reid this morning, Kurt Eichenwald had an epic and very welcome rant about the Trump surrogates who are STILL trying to pivot to Clinton during discussions of both the tape and his comments about the Central Park Five. He’s made the playground analogy before, but FINALLY his slimy surrogates were called to account:http://www.rawstory.com/2016/10/watch-kurt-eichenwald-shames-juvenile-trump-defender-acting-like-a-seven-year-old-on-a-playground/
And sorry, all you rats who waited until now to flee Trump’s sinking ship, it’s too late. We have all seen your true colors. Honestly, at this point I have more respect for the Republicans who are just silent than the ones who, after all the racism, misogyny and criminal statements from Trump are NOW hypocritically shocked! shocked! by his behavior.
I do agree with others that I hope Trump stays in the race, so Clinton can smash him on November 8.
I saw that, it was great. I don’t know if you saw the Eichenwald tweet about the Trump follower sending him (Eichenwald) a video which was designed to trigger an epileptic seizure. Eichenwald has never been shy about sharing that he has epilepsy so some pig thought that would be a great way to get back at Eichenwald for all of his anti-Trump reporting.
Joy’s show was terrific this morning. I loved the segment with the two very different evangelicals. Great stuff.
Yeah. Quite enlightening.
Trump and Pence should both stay in. This is, after all, a campaign of ideas. Is is a campaign on the fight from the seventies; the fight for equality. It had to be, and Clinton was the one to to it. Hannity, Limbaugh, Morris, and Gingrich all need to go. Has anyone heard who made or distributed the tape?
Supposedly, Access Hollywood caught the comments when reviewing old tapes to find whether he made comments about Alicia Machado on air/tape. They say they were planning to release their own piece about it when it got leaked to David Farenthold at WAPO and they released it.http://nypost.com/2016/10/08/how-access-hollywood-unearthed-donald-trumps-vulgar-video/
Farenthold has declined to name the leaker.
I have heard from various talking heads on MSNBC and CNN that Access Hollywood may have more tapes to release, but that’s been just repeating rumors.
I love the way the WAPO is beating the pants off of the NYT on reporting during this election cycle. Why bother reading the Times when the stories have already been out on the WAPO for several hours?
Unless you want to read distortions of what Hillary said in speeches.
So I wonder if Trump will continue to criticize Hillary for being weak and not-a-leader for forgiving Bill Clinton?
Bad enough how he views women in this sleazy manner but how about the effect this has on male youths?
How often have we witnessed young males being accused of the same charges employed by Trump who also find their own supporters offering excuses after the fact that “boys will be boys?
Disgusting? Absolutely but this mindset is baked into the culture where women are treat like objects and male are awarded a wink and a nod for demeaning behavior that goes unchecked.
This should also be the time for parents to address what is acceptable/unacceptable behavior of young males who should also learn from this lapse of moral judgment as it applies to themselves.
A must-read:
I’ve been saying the same thing, men acting shocked! shocked! that a man would talk about a woman in such a manner. Bull. Shit. Men have been talking this way with each other all along. I honestly think that one of the reasons they are so upset is that they have been exposed. This is the way they have spoken about women all along and now it’s out. Now we know.
This!! “The good guys are also out in force, telling us they don’t speak about women like this and have never heard anything like it. They are forever respectful. Well respectfully, they should shut up and listen. I have heard men speak like this all my life. The idea that men are suddenly discovering misogyny because of Trump is somewhat strange. Where have they been? ”
I’ve been reading two threads over at dkos:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/08/1579304/-This-is-not-how-men-talk-It-s-how-sexual-predators-talk
and http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/08/1579412/-It-has-happened-to-me-It-has-happened-to-you
I would imagine it’s happened to nearly all women- sexual assault- and our reality is that we have heard it the talk and experienced it all along. Men didn’t know??
The most chilling part was the way they were dude-talking on the bus and then Trump gets off and says, “Hi!” in his sweetest, kindest voice. We have all been there. When you come up to a group of men and get the sense they were either just talking about you or have been in the past. It’s fucking disgusting and it was all spelled out for the world to see in the Trump video.
How is Billy Bush not facing criticism?
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Left me in tears.
Thanks — I needed that dose of goodness after too much Trump vileness.
Wonderful! Why can’t we see more of this – the real Hillary? And the very people who spit on her the most, evangelicals, will never see this, or after seeing it, still continue on in their blind hate.
Have y’all seen this:
This:
The Clinton campaign is laying low, waiting for debate to take T-rump down.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-229382
I will be watching with my iced tea and Fritos! T-rump you is going down…time for your to grab your balls and run!
McCain just withdrew his endorsement of Trump.
Never should have endorsed him in the first place. Bad time to be a Republican!
They are in total disarray. Like my late Aunt Doris would say, “They don’t know whether to laugh, cry, shit, or go blind.”
Lol. I think it’s so fitting that all the cable news stations are showing the hurricane damage and the Trump/Republican nuclear meltdown in parallel. Both are mind boggling viewings of disasters in real time, except Trump’s is about time!
last night somebody tweeted it was like Sorkin was writing it, the campaign collapsing as buildings are destroyed by the hurricane.
Condi Rice sent out a delete your campaign announcement
😃
Wow
And the RNC deleted the Trump campaign.
https://mic.com/articles/156270/the-rnc-just-cut-off-support-to-donald-trump-here-s-what-that-means
Whoa!
Lol. I truly pity his daughters.
So do I. Rich as they are, it hasn’t been easy for them.
http://www.denverpost.com/2016/10/07/denver-post-endorses-hillary-clinton-for-president/
Another major paper in a key state for Hillary
There’s more coming
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/300044-apprentice-producer-there-are-far-worse-tapes-of-trump
Then release them, immediately.
CNN Trump buffoon Jeffrey Lord just called Hilary an enabler of the “bad behavior” as it came to Bill’s behavior with women. She should be held to account for Bill’s behavior. I have heard this before but now I am out of mind livid.
I have found the mute button invaluable when Jeffrey Lord opens his mouth.
That’s their theme for tonight’s debate. Bill is a rapist and Hillary enabled covered it up and was a bitch to his victims. It’s outrageous.