The photos of the "crowds" at the tank parade remind me of when Bill Hicks would come on stage in an almost-empty club, scan the room slowly, and announce "I've had more people in bed than this" ...
When the president sends a cabinet member on TV to announce "We are using the military to liberate an American city from its elected leaders," where do you go from there. What is left to say. The idea of that being anything short of a near-universal "Wait, what the fuck is going on" moment proves how far we've backslid.
This is from 2022 but it was absolutely right. The practiced buffoonery of Trump 1, all the "just kiddings" and "seriously but not literallys" absolutely succeeded in desensitizing people who are hardly paying any attention to the harder stuff they always intended to do next. ...
The basic fallacy in chasing votes by being "tough on immigration" is that the modal American's position on the issue is "Deport the Bad ones and keep the Good ones," and they alone know who is which, and that simply does not translate into workable policy. So this kind of gestapo stuff horrifies some of the same people who cheered when Trump promised to do it. There are true sociopaths who love this, but "No, I meant only the BAD immigrants! Not my coworker/friend/neighbor!" is as likely a reaction as enthusiasm. You cannot do immigration policy that satisfies these people because what they want is nonsensical.
So by the time center-left parties fully commit to chasing the far right by "getting tough" on immigration, the backlash has already begun to build and they walk right into it. "I thought you people wanted this!" No, they want something impossible and convinced themselves they'd could have it - the "eat whatever you want AND lose weight!" of immigration policies.
It is hard to grasp but large masses of Americans are both racist/xenophobic AND not racist/xenophobic enough to applaud what Trump is doing. It's goldilocks shit, they want a level of racism/xenophobia calibrated exactly to their personal preferences, and you just can't make that policy. Don't try. ...
AP: Trump extends olive branch, invites Musk to White House cellar to taste some brand new amontillado ...
vghoul says:
I know, it's so simple, yet so timeless.
Aileen says:
…and still Bush Sr won after making this poor choice of running mate.
J. Dryden says:
Bush's margin of victory was significantly narrowed by his choice of Quayle, who ended up costing him votes. But not enough votes, of course. Despite GOP-fatigue and a less-than-thrilling Bush as the alternative, leave it to the Dems to nominate someone so utterly…is Dukakian an accepted adjective by this point? It should be. As in, "Gore was a rather Dukakian candidate" or "Kerry ran a totally Dukakian campaign." Had to love ol' Lloyd, though, who clearly had the time of his life running against Danny Q.
Nate says:
I've heard that quote so many times, but I've never seen the actual footage or heard the original quote. I didn't even know it was Dan "Potatoes" Quayle making the mistake of comparing himself to Jack Kennedy. Seeing the actual quote is AMAZING. The look on Quayle's face as he gets admonished his hilarious.
Samantha says:
I can't wait for the VP debates!!
AC says:
I watched this about 4 times today to make up for a kinda crappy day…Thanks Ed
court says:
Palin: Who's Jack Kennedy? Was he related to John Kennedy?It's amazing how you can SEE that Quayle is having really big problems remembering his lines.
Scott says:
Great clip of course. For a time when Palin was being pushed as "She has the same genitalia of Hilary Clinton," I banking on the fact that Biden would reference/"plagiarize" Bentson with "Hockey-mon, I served with Hilary Clinton. I knew Hilary Clinton. Hilary Clinton is a friend of mine. Pal-Pal, you're no Hilary Clinton." but alas, after Hilary decided to stand her up for the Anti-Iran fiesta, I no longer expect the comparison to be brought up.
Brandon says:
I hadn't seen this in quite a while. Quayle seriously looks like the kid on the playground who just his ass kicked and is getting ready to tell teacher. Look at his lower lip quivering…
By the way, do you have footage of that classic Franklin Pierce debate?
Patti says:
Wow! A Vice Presidential debate where they actually respond to each other's comments! I love this clip, and I would like to see more on Franklin Pierce, but I don't know if you were aware that the National Vice Presidential Museum is located here in the Great State of Indiana in Dan Quayle's hometown:
http://www.quaylemuseum.org/
j says:
I agree with Patti–the worst part of modern political debates is that they don't even respond to each other's comments, which makes it not a debate but a rapid-fire series of advertisements.