Bill Maher on Hillary Clinton

Bill Maher makes some great points.

The Rude Pundit

If you are not reading The Rude Pundit blog you are really missing out.  I loved this post:

". . . What's shocking is that the fucking Russians are likely trying to get Trump elected. And that's where the second cosmic joke comes in, the kind where karma just takes a giant shit on all of us. We're still hearing endlessly about the Clinton email fake scandal, you know, with her home server that turns out to have been a fuck of a lot more secure than the State Department's or the DNC's. That was a bunch of political motivated malarkey that was an enormous waste of time and had as its only purpose to add to the air of Clinton as an untrustworthy figure (something I joined in on, to an extent, yes, mea fuckin' culpa). No classified information was leaked, and it's up for argument if any was even sent. And the rest was just an administrative issue, not a crime.

The joke part is that this Trump/Russian connection is a real email scandal. This is what it looks like. It looks like a dictatorial ruler of a country that is at odds with ours using hacked emails to get his hopeful stooge elected. The big investigation now should be if there was any coordination between the Trump campaign and Moscow.

Meanwhile, here, our stupid, stupid election continues, with Debbie Wasserman-Schultz thankfully being put out of her misery (someone's head had to roll for the anti-Bernie shit) and with Sanders getting booed for telling his supporters to vote for Clinton while screechy social media fucks and well-intentioned street protesters say that they will never, no-how, no way vote for Clinton because reasons.

To which one can only say: You know who will get hurt by a Trump presidency? Every fucking group you think you're defending with your purity. And don't fucking get upset when we say that not voting or voting for Stein or Johnson is as good as voting for Trump. It's as good as voting for Trump because Clinton is the only candidate who can beat him, and any vote not for her is a net gain for Trump, and that shit'll matter in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and elsewhere. And, yeah, fuck you if you think that voting for Clinton to stop Trump ain't enough of a reason. It is enough of a reason. It's always been, in every election, enough of a reason. Sorry, sunshine, that's the fuckery of democracy. 

Fuck you for not knowing your history and not wanting to do everything you can to stop someone like Trump from ascending to the White House and appointing Supreme Court justices, which will fuck us all for the rest of our lives. You know who agrees with us and disagrees with you? Bernie Sanders. Elizabeth Warren. Michael Moore. President Obama. And a fuck-ton of liberal writers (and a shitload of conservative writers, but fuck them where they stand anyways). 

Do you think we're all just lying to you? Do you think people across the left are liars or shills, including the dude you worshipped all this time? Or maybe, just maybe, we are sounding a warning bell, telling you that this shit is real. A Trump presidency is realer in its consequences than a Clinton one, however bad you think a Clinton presidency might be. Fuck, the Washington Post took the really unusual step to say, "Yeah, fuck this. Trump is a psychopath. Stop him." That's unheard of. 

Don't damn us to be Cassandras. Don't let us stand there in 2017 and forward and say, "Told you so."  Probably from our cells in the gulag."  

Full blog post here.   The Rude Pundit twitter page here. 

2016 DNC Speeches

Here are my 15 favorites from the week.  Together they make quite a powerful statement.

1-Hillary Clinton


2-Michelle Obama


3-Barack Obama


4-Bernie Sanders


5-Joe Biden


6-Bill Clinton


7-Corey Booker


8-Tim Kaine


9-Khizr Khan


10-John Allen


11-Reverend William Barber


12-Michael Bloomberg


13-Elizabeth Warren


14-Howard Dean


15-Sarah Silverman

Carpool Karaoke With Michelle Obama

How can you not smile at this?

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates - starring Zac Efron, Adam DeVine, Anna Kendrick & Aubry Plaza.   Efron & DeVine play hard partying brothers Dave & Mike Stangle, they have a habit of ruining every special occasion they attend, wich leads to an ultimatum on them to find nice girls to bring to their sisters Hawaiian wedding or to not show up at all.  That leads them to place an ad in Craig's List for dates.  Thanks to social media their quest for dates soon goes viral.  That's were Kendrick & Plaza make their appearance, they are far from nice girls but they desperately want a free trip to Hawaii so they decide to play nice girls.  Dave and Mike are immediately smitten and decide to take the girls with them to Hawaii and the wedding.  It doesn't take long for the guys to figure the girls are not quite what they claimed to be.  It's pretty funny, a bit raunchy, definitely not a movie for kids. Efron is okay, I wish he'd find a role where he didn't have to take his shirt off though.  DeVine was probably the best part of the movie, he's got a bright future ahead of him.  Anna Kendrick is serviceable, I like that she's willing to take some risks with her roles.  I'm a huge Aubry Plaza fan, but it feels like all her parts are starting to feel like the same character.  All in all, I was entertained, it was a nice summer romp.

I will give it 3 out of 5 stars (*****).

Nina Agdal

Leonardo DiCaprio is one lucky guy.

POTpourri

• Donald Trump's ties to Russia deserve a lot more scrutiny. 
• The Minnesota Twins have fired GM Terry Ryan. 
• Donald Trump's own words make him unfit to be President. 
• Tyus Jones was impressive at the Las Vegas Summer League. 
• Donald Trump offered John Kasich unprecedented VP powers.  
• The Ringer is my favorite new website. 
• Fact checking Donald Trump is a full time job. 
• I just cannot get enough of Helga Lovekaty.  
• RIP Denny Green, Nate Thurmond, Garry Marshall & Wendall Anderson. 
• Are we witnessing the end of the Republican Party as we know it? 
• A bit late to the game, but Amy Shumer: Live at the Apollo is really funny. 
• I wish someone had alerted me to Natalie Roser a long time ago. 
• Ezra Klein is not too impressed by Donald Trump. 
• Johnny Manziel has all the hallmarks of an addict. 
• About that term "Radical Islamic Terrrorist"? 
• The final table is set for the 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event. 
• Donald Trump's ghostwriter is horrified of a possible Trump Presidency.
• Why aren't there more black Republicans?  
• Roger Ailes is out at Fox News.  He sounds like a cretin. 
• I'm all in favor of a Russian ban from the 2016 Summer Olympics. 
• Rudy Guliani is a prime example of what's wrong with this country. 

Apocalypse Tonight

Great recap of the Donald Trump acceptance speech by Trevor Noah on The Daily Show.

Tim Kaine

It was hard to not be impressed with Tim Kaine's after his speech accepting the VP nomination.



He's certainly qualified to be Vice President (or President, if need be):

• Harvard Graduate
• Law Degree
• Mayor of Richmond, Virginia
• Governor of the State of Virginia
• U.S. Senator from Virgina
• Member of Senates Armed Services, Budget, Foreign Relations & Aging committees.  

In addition to above, he comes from a blue collar family, he comes from a swing state, he has served as the DNC Chairman, he's fluent in Spanish, he spent a year in Central America where he ran a vocational school for boys, he spent 17 years as a lawyer working on civil rights cases, he's lauded by labor & abortion rights groups, he took on the gun lobby, he's anti-death penalty, he's got universal respect in the Senate, and a record of achievement.  He just seems to connect with people from all walk's of life.  I really like this pick.

Now some of the far left would have preferred someone more to the left, but I think that would have been a bit shortsighted.   The 2 names I heard most often from the far left were Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown, but wouldn't you really rather have them working in the Senate than holding the mostly symbolic role of VP?   Both of them also come from states with Republican Governors and you'd better believe those Governors would appoint other Republicans to replace them, and in this day and age you just cannot give up a Senate seat if you want to get anything accomplished.

Listening to the speech, his optimistic outlook also presents quite a contrast to the doom and gloom of the Trump/Pence ticket.  Don't discount that, I think people want to be inspired not scared, they want to unite not divide, in the long run that approach tends to win out.   

AZ Tidbits

• The Phoenix metro area ranks well as a good place for drivers. 
• Shane Doan signs one year extension with the Arizona Coyotes. 
• Arizona athletes will be well represented at the Summer Olympics. 
• The Phoenix Suns summer league team has been impressive.  
• I really need to get to Pizzeria Bianco one of these days.   
• The Arizona Coyotes have narrowed in on a couple arena sites. 
• What doesn't John McCain blame Barack Obama for? 
• The Arizona Cardinals open training camp next week! 
• Phoenix Suns lose Ronnie Price in free agency. 
• Ann Kirkpatrick comes out in favor of term limits. 
• Phoenix listed as one of the Fastest Warming Cities in the U.S.  
• Jeff Flake appears to be the most reasonable Republican in Arizona. 
• Do you know which elected officials in Arizona supported dark money? 
• The Diamondbacks trend of bad trades is getting troublesome. 
• Paul Babeu's sisters are not supporting his congressional bid. 
• Arizona Cardinals sign free agent CB Mike Jenkins. 
• You've got to love pictures of the Monsoon season in Arizona. 
• It really is hard to believe how oblivious some Arizona Republicans are. 
• Federal Judge smacks down Sheriff Joe Arpaio. 
• NFL.com has named Tyrann Mathieu the Best Safety in the NFL. 

Jon Stewart on Late Night

I really miss John Stewart.

2016 RNC - Day 4

Day 4, the final day of the Republican National Convention was about introducing Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for President of the United State.

Day 4 Highlights:

• Thank God this was last day of this hatefest. 
• Donald Trump is really not good reading from a teleprompter. 
• Half-truths and distortions were once again the rule of the day.
• It wasn't a very optimistic speech by Donald Trump.  
• Dare I say that speech was very Hitleresque?  
• Lots of grievances aired, not many solutions touted. 
• I didn't think that speech was ever going to end. 

If the purpose of this speech/convention was to scare people into voting for Donald Trump, they probably accomplished their agenda.  I'm not quite sure that is what America is looking for though, it was very dark and very short on specifics and really didn't convince me that he is fit to hold the most powerful office in the world.   

Make America Fear Again

The only thing to fear is fear itself.

2016 RNC - Day 3

Day 3 of the RNC was about Make America First Again.  I'm not entirely sure what that even means, it wasn't really addressed either so it doesn't matter much.  It was also the opportunity for the RNC to showcase Mike Pence to the nation.

Day 3 Highlights:

• Ted Cruz refusal to endorse Donald Trump was the story of the day.
• Marco Rubio on the other hand swallowed his dignity.  
• You'd think that Hillary Clinton was the second coming of Adolph Hitler. 
• Has a conservative court really worked out so well for everyone?  
• Half-truths and distortions were once again the rule of the day.
• I find Republican attacks on crony capitalism a bit hard to stomach. 
• The protesters finally made an appearance.  
• It's hard to overlook how unpopular Mike Pence is in Indiana.  
• There doesn't seem to be much chemistry between Donald Trump & Mike Pence.

What an odd convention.  The only thing people will remember about day 3 is Ted Cruz and the apparent disharmony between Donald Trump and Mike Pence.  I don't see much of a post convention bounce for Donald Trump coming out of this convention.  The pressure for him to knock his speech out of the ballpark on Day 4 couldn't be greater at this point.  

Awkward