Vautrin

Some people assumed he might grow into the office instead of continuing to be a jackass. The diehards won't care about that, but some voters will. Clinton didn't have Trump's decades long history of shady business practices, things that were ignored for the most part for years. They aren't being ignored now. I wouldn't make any 2020 predictions now as it's too long to the election. I'll have to wait and see how things develop.

Fortunately Trump says enough idiotic things daily to make it easy to construct ads around them, if the eventual Democratic nominee feels like it. And we still don't know what the various investigations will dig up on Trump between now and the election.

At least Time didn't give her the O.J. treatment. AOC is driving the Red State site crazy. They have at least one article per day about her, sometimes two. Good times.

Just about every time I see or hear David's last name I have to chuckle. Can you imagine being in high school with that name? Ouch. I think it's a matter of political self-interest taken to the extreme. Trump is so popular with a large segment of GOP voters that speaking out against his orangeness or even offering a minor criticism can be very bad for one's political future. I think that is what all the spinelessness is based on.

I think Hickenlooper is going for the raincoat and floor cleaning products vote. Yes, there're not many of them out there, but in a close election it could make all the difference.

Don't mess with Trump. He's got 'em hypnotized. Same thing with Thom Tillis. He said he would vote against Trump's national emergency. There was even a column by him explaining his reasoning in the local paper (and in a lot of other NC papers no doubt). Then he suddenly changes his mind. I was surprised he was going to vote against Donny in the first place. He must have known beforehand that it would go down badly with Trump supporters here. He finally came to his senses, at least politically.

Now there's the real giant sucking sound. Of course remoras do so by nature, Graham does so by choice.

One of the TV talking heads pointed out that Graham, even by his own admission, likes to be close to power and influence. His buddy McCain gave him that opportunity. Now that McCain is gone, Graham is sucking up to Trump, who now has the power and influence. If something should happen to Donny, Graham will just find the next person who has the power and suck up to him.

I doubt that a lifetime of free victuals, room and board, and medical care in prison is anyone's idea of enjoyment.

La Trahison des Images. 1929. Rene Magritte. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. Hare. 1502. Albrecht Durer.

They've got a lot of covfefe in Brazile.

To me it was just more of the same in a different setting. And that narration. Egad. Now, if I was totally unfamiliar with Woody Allen films I probably would have liked it. Though I haven't seen many of his newer movies, I think the one film a year schedule is not helping any.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz. Not all that interesting in itself, but interesting in how Woody moved, almost wholesale, the good looking, well off, intellectual artsy type characters from NYC to Barcelona. Vicky and Cristina are two such who are spending the summer in Barcelona. They meet painter Bardem and he uses some pickup lines that are as subtle as a sledgehammer. Cristina is willing, but Vicky is engaged and finds Bardem's crude behavior somewhat off putting. IOW, she'll be sucking Bardem's paintbrush the day after tomorrow. Cristina moves in with Bardem and things are going well until Bardem's semi-crazy ex-wife, played by Cruz, enters the picture. At first there is some conflict, but eventually they start a threesome. The only person who isn't getting any action is Bardem's poet father, but with a few extra minutes of screen time he likely could have got some tail too. Sorry pops. Vicky's post-yuppie fiance arrives and they get married, though she feels guilty about screwing Bardem. She considers getting out of the marriage, but they've got to go back home and buy a new house, so why not stay with Mr. Sucker? Well it's the end of summer and the girls have to return to the USA. Bardem's wife comes in with a pistola and starts firing but doesn't hit anybody. Yeah, it's definitely time to get out of Barcelona. The icing on the cake of this movie is an almost beyond pretentious narration, which has to be heard to be believed and even then it's hard to believe. The Barcelona locales are nice to see. Sort of like a travelogue with some annoying people getting in the way. This is the kind of picture that gives meaning to the phrase verging on self-parody.

Maybe it's just driven by the desire to elect the president in the same manner that all other elected officials in the U.S. are elected; the candidate with the most votes wins.