KerleyQ

I just don't see how his supporters think he's going to do a damn thing for them. He has a very well established history of not doing anything for anyone other than himself. It's kind of bizarre that they can simultaneously admire him for that characteristic while still thinking he's going to do what's best for them if he takes office. I have an uncle who is completely and totally in the bag for Trump. We're talking up at 3 AM posting pro-Trump/anti-Hillary memes on Facebook, repeating all the catchphrases like they're Gospel, and devoting large portions of his day to Breitbart and EndTheFed reading level of committed. But, here's the thing - this uncle has leeched off the system (and some family members) pretty much his entire adult life. Most of his means of support would decrease or dry up completely if Trump had his way. But here he is, ranting and raving about "those damn liberals living off the rest of us," and how Trump is going to put an end to that. I so badly want to say "do you really think he'll put an end to it for everyone but you?" But, I think the thing with Trump is that he's managed to tap into whatever inner prejudices people have felt they had to hide all these years, and now, the rest of it doesn't matter, because he's told them "you're right" about those. For my uncle, it seems to be homophobia and racism, as it is for a portion of his support base. For others, I think it's this building feeling some have had that there are people out there "getting away with" living some high life off their tax dollars. So it really just does not matter if you point them to one hundred different sources that show that the things he says are lies or that the few policy items he's managed to discuss are not feasible. He's told them "you're right about that." That is incredibly powerful to some people.

I think that, to her detractors, ambition is only bad in women. That reminds me of Pence's bizarre insistence on calling Hillary and Tim "career politicians" as some kind of slur during the VP debate. 1) Yeah, so they know how the system works and how to work in the system. 2) Is the man who has been running for office for nearly three decades slamming someone else for being a "career politician"? I really wanted Kaine to ask him "how have you managed to maintain your amateur status for almost thirty years, Governor Pence?" I get that there can be somewhat of a negative connotation about people who just park themselves in Congress and never leave (especially when they never do a damn thing there), but it's so weird to watch someone who has a similar career history to his opponent slamming that opponent for it, and it's ridiculous to pretend that both Hillary and Tim haven't done a lot of work to help people over the years.

I live in Aurora, but the corner of it that's wedged in between Naperville and the rural area of Oswego. So my little corner is kind of blue, but the area surrounding us is decidedly red. That just made me think of the story last year about Putin having a hockey game for his birthday. I believe he played with some players from one of the professional teams in Russia, and, naturally, his team won. Of course, he scored the most goals.

If that doesn't just perfectly encapsulate this damn election period, I don't know what does. Trump wants to watch the world burn (because he's presumably figured out a way to monetize it), but, hold the presses, Hillary says she carries hot sauce in her purse!

I'm definitely reporting them. I just need to figure out where to report it. That's my project for tomorrow - find out where to report them and get it done.

I could swear I remember her using it to poke at the Robin/Patrick relationship, too. It wasn't only a Jason thing.

I live in a suburb of Chicago, and I early voted yesterday. Thankfully, no long lines here yet. But, I'm really irritated. I live in a somewhat Republican leaning area of Illinois (we're mostly a blue state, but there are little pockets of red here and there, and I live in one), and the poll workers there were asking for ID's. I checked out the website about early voting before I went in, to make sure I was headed to the right location, and it specifically states that you are not required to show ID to early vote. When called on it, the poll workers kind of hemmed and hawed and came out with "we're just asking to see ID's so it's easier for us to get the proper spelling of everyone's name when we enter them into the system." Yeah, right. My doubt was confirmed when I heard another woman there say to one of the workers "well I think you should be asking for everyone's ID, or people will be lying about who they are." The worker replied "me too, but people like that (inclining his head towards a voter who was telling them they're not allowed to ask) are why we can't." It pisses me off that we're still getting poll workers trying to push through these GOP voter ID measures, even in places where they've never been in place. How many times do they need to be told "no" on this topic? Meanwhile, let's listen to their candidate talk about how the voting is going to be rigged. The only side trying to rig it is your side, Cheetos.

While their animosity is rooted in the Jason/Michael thing, there's more there over the years. I'm thinking, specifically of Carly's various attempts to undermine Robin's relationship with Patrick (which he sometimes enabled a bit by indulging Carly instead of telling her to shut her ugly mouth, but that's another discussion). There's also her taunting her about her HIV status, which, to me, is so above and beyond Jason. I can buy that Robin is a good enough person to be willing to put it behind them, but that history is still there, under the surface, ripe for reappearing during an emotionally charged time. And Carly, well, yeah, she expressed her gratitude that Robin saved Jason, but, I think that was mostly something that happened because Robin was basically leaving for good (save a return here and there). If KMc was sticking around, and Robin wasn't leaving town, I don't think we would have had Carly being so completely grateful and ready to be buddies. I think it's decently likely we would have had Carly going off on her for keeping his existence to herself, probably throwing in some accusations that Robin always did want to keep him away from her, and she finally had her chance, and if she had just been upfront with Carly and Sonny about his being alive before she went off to save him, Sonny could have helped get him out of their sooner, and he never would have developed amnesia, blah blah blah. So I think that Robin showing up to offer her condolences to Carly could have gone either way. It could have been friendly and lovely, or it could have been Carly going batshit bitchy because she needs someone to take her anger out on, and Robin is a familiar target.

I hope she comes home matured and with some really hot guy she met overseas. Oh, and she doesn't spare Liam a glance, maybe beyond saying that she's realized that he and Steffy really do belong together, and that her relationship with him was a youthful infatuation.

Brooke may be a bit gun shy about making it a costume thing, given her past. Don't want to accidentally screw LDG at the reception, thinking he's Bill. I know Ivy's all BFF with Quinn now, But I would love to see her be Brooke's protege in this scenario. (Which could totally work if Brooke teams up with Eric and Quinn and she's brought in to run FC for them.) The fact that Bill's assistant ran off before hearing Brooke say she loves Bill and is marrying him gives me hope that we're actually getting a Brill end game here. Of course there needs to be a misunderstanding in their way if they're the "root for" couple here.

I don't think she ever wanted to campaign in the first place. I'm thinking she got an upgrade on her pre-nup to entice her to do what little she's done.

I really honestly think that the whole "nobody wants to know how the sausage is made" metaphor works for Hillary. Everyone is so appalled by the stuff that's come out, but, honestly, it's all standard run of the mill stuff. It's just out there because standard politician stuff is all the GOP has managed to dig up on her. Sure, it makes her look questionable, but it's how the system works.

They've pulled that with Kaine some, too. The GOP's Twitter account, around a month ago, posted something about how "Tim Kaine started his career by defending some of the most despicable criminals of his time." I re-tweeted it with the comment "there's the GOP, showing how much they love the Constitution again."

That's basically what they've already said about President Obama, repeatedly, most recently with the SC justice nomination. They are telling us "yes, you voted for this man, and you voted for him knowing that one of his responsibilities would be to appoint SC justices. But, well, fuck you, because we won't let him carry that responsibility out, because we want someone in our party to do it. We hold your vote in so much contempt, in fact, that we won't even approve a man who all of us have previously said is an ideal candidate, solely because the President who nominated him has a D next to his name. We're willing to screw you over. We're willing to screw Merrick Garland over, and we're willing to screw over anyone who has a case come before the court because we hate you for voting a Democrat into the White House....Now, don't forget to vote for us in November!"

And I'm sure the concert was a birthday celebration for her. It's not like she canceled some major appearance at the last minute to do it or dropped out of a debate. She simply took an evening off and went to a concert for her birthday. I definitely get the impression that the older kids see his business as their own little kingdom. This is another thing I blame the media for. The whole "pay to play" discussion is framed by the Trump camp, Hannity, Breitbart, etc, and it just gets repeated over and over. The media should be disclosing further, pertinent information, like that the donation came when she was a private citizen. They should be thoroughly discussing how the people who tried to pay to play with the foundation to get access or favors generally got blown off by her people. One of the other talking points that keeps being brought up is that "she accepted millions from countries who treat women and the LGBT community horribly." The follow up is never discussed though - that the foundation accepts that money, and then it turns around and does good with that money - sometimes for the very communities that are mistreated in those countries. The way the narrative is framed on that one, it's often made to sound like she accepts that money for her campaign for POTUS. When, in reality, the only one trying to get their hands on foreign money for their campaign is Trump, with his repeated emails to members of government in various foreign countries (yet another crime he's committed without being called to the carpet for it). The media needs to stop letting his camp set the tone for every single topic, because it's contributing to all the BS we keep hearing about Hillary. The media should be relentless on this. Say "OK, well, audits can go back 7 years. So, we will happily take your 2008, 2007, and 2006 returns. And a statement of audit for 2009 to the present." Hold his tiny little orange feet to the fire and make it clear that he is refusing to release them not because of an audit, but because, despite his many claims of "transparency," he's not remotely willing to be transparent. Even the most dogged of the media generally let him get away with deflecting and changing the subject. They need to stop that. Keep asking the question and correcting his inaccuracies. My personal favorite, discovered a few weeks ago, is Cheetos Mussolini.

My biggest hope for this story is that Brooke turns him down flat now. Then, when Douglas's paternity reveal eventually happens, and Ridge is back and happy with Caroline, Brooke can point out to him that she knew they were both meant to be somewhere else now, and that she's glad he sees that and is happy again. But, you know, that would be adult and all. Can't have that.

It's amazing that they don't get the disconnect between introducing themselves as a same sex couple planning to marry while while talking about voting for a man who has said that he'll appoint SC justices who will take away their right to marry.

I don't think that someone who puts a Trump sign out in their front yard is going to be afraid to admit to a pollster that they're voting for him. I think what the deal is is that while his fans call themselves the "silent majority," what they really are is the "vocal minority." They're just so loud and proud that they make it seem like they're a larger group. Ditto. I considered putting one in my yard, but I'm in an area of Illinois that's kind of dicey on that front. We're a suburb that seems mostly liberal (and our local elected officials are liberal), but, we're sandwiched in between a pretty wealthy suburb and a rural town. So you don't have to venture too far away from our front door to see Trump signs and homemade "Killary for Prison" signs. So I feel safer not inviting their interest in my home or my car (which is like 6 months old, so I'd like to not find it keyed when I come out of the grocery store). I don't know if they'd do anything now, but I do think that, on election night, they might be out for some kind of vengeance. Yep. His attorney flat out said that you can't rape your spouse. That point in time was when it was just becoming known that date rape is a real thing. Spousal rape wasn't really on a lot of people's radar. (Even today, there are a decent number of people who would still say that you can't rape your spouse.) If he isn't providing insurance to his employees, he'd be in violation of the law. Any company over 50 full time employees (or 50 full time equivalents) is required to provide coverage to their employees or pay a tax penalty. So him being out there declaring the issues his employees are having with Obamacare coverage should invite a nice little investigation by the IRS as to whether he's meeting his obligations.

When his supporters were whining about Ecuador cutting off his internet access, I was laughing. Gee, a country didn't want to be involved in a guest of their embassy utilizing their resources to interfere in another country's electoral process? I'm shocked. Hey, Julian? I'm sure if you wander on out of the embassy, you can find yourself any number of internet cafes or hotels with wi-fi. Oh, what's that? You're hiding out to avoid being arrested for rape? Hey, maybe you can see if Roman Polanski's place has wi-fi. It feels so damn odd to respect March Rubio, but at least he's taken a stand that he will not discuss anything related to the leaked hacks. So the Trump camp and his supporters have found a new thing to bitch about - "biased sampling." I could not stop laughing when I saw that start popping up. His campaign and his supporters constitute one big echo chamber. Nothing filters in that doesn't confirm their preconceived notions, and they're talking about sampling bias? And then Trump will praise any poll from Breitbart or its ilk that shows him leading. Like that isn't the ultimate in sampling bias? That reminds me of something else I meant to bring up before. His supporters claim that, because he draws such "huge" crowds at his rallies, that means he's really winning. I think the reason his crowds are so big while he's still losing is that his support base is very, very involved and vocal. I think that, when it comes to voters attending rallies, he has a much higher participating rate than other candidates. It would be interesting to compare the rally attendee to voter ratio for him compared to other candidates. I'd bet his ratio is much higher. Of course there's also the other angle to his rally numbers - he's been inflating them since the primaries. I have a few family members who braved one of his rallies about a month ago, because one of them needed to write a column on it. His people employ various tricks to make it seem like a larger, more devout crowd than there really is. It started with the line to get in. They were only letting a small number of people in at a time in order to maintain a line waiting out in the street, making it look like the demand to get in was more than it really was. Once they got in, there were staffers working through the crowds, rearranging them for the best visual impact, both in terms of making it look more crowded and making sure that people in the best camera sight lines had the preferred signs. They are pros at making it look like a full arena when it's not even half full. That's not to say that he absolutely never has a full arena, he's had a few, but his people use the overhead pictures from those arenas, that show them full, and post them on social media days, weeks, months later, claiming that they're pictures from that day's rally. His sons have been busted on that one more than once (the most prominent I can think of is Mark Cuban busting him trying to pass the Dallas arena where the Mavericks play off as an arena in Florida).

Ditto. It's an appropriate image, though.

Seriously, how do I get off of this ride?

I don't think they fully have a story line plan in place for it now. I bet cat eyes come in real handy for a bad guy. Better night vision will be a huge advantage for Valentin when he eventually traps everyone at Wyndemere and cuts the power.

If this story doesn't arrive at a point where Brooke is backing Eric instead of Ridge, then the writers are truly incompetent. Especially since Quinn has really done not a single damn thing to Rick. Rick should be polishing up his crown to be the new number one son, Eric and Quinn's most trusted confidant. Maya should be ingratiating herself with Quinn to help boost Rick's career. That this isn't happening is absurd.

I've never doubted the allegations against him. And it's so infuriating that his side keeps trying to act like he's never been accused of this before. He has been. There have been multiple allegations in the past. He's got a civil trial for raping a 13 year old starting in December. His own wife accused him of it (and semi-walked it back, no doubt for cash, but her "walking it back" still involved her calling it a violent violating episode). And his response (as well as his followers' response, I'm sure) in the case of the porn star is so gross. I knew that was what was going to happen, without a doubt. It was going to be a general attitude of "well, come on, she's a porn star." If anyone wonders why she didn't come forward sooner, all they need to do is listen to the response to her coming forward now. It must be monumentally difficult to report sexual assault or sexual harassment when you work in a sex-based industry. A few weeks ago, I saw a meme that had a picture of the two of them next to a picture of Beavis & Butthead, and it was dead on, especially Eric (the blonde one). It's all I can see now when they're on TV. Exactly. Women often don't come forward when their assailant is just some average guy. But they're often even more reluctant to come forward when they're attacked by someone famous, rich, or powerful. They system is rough enough when you've been sexually assaulted, but when the person you're accusing has those extra advantages, it's got to be a nightmare. It's like being repeatedly victimized over and over by the system and the general public. When I was a teenager, I worked at a local store. The owner sexually harassed all of us. There were smacks on the ass all the time. I still remember one time I was waiting on a customer, and the owner came up beside me while he was passing out paychecks, and he stuck my paycheck (and his hand) in my front pocket. Stuff like that was routine for him. None of us ever reported it. But I was just saying to my husband the other day that, if the Trump campaign was going on with that guy as the candidate, I would have to speak up and corroborate his pattern of behavior. And, it goes without saying that he would not have my vote. And talking about him makes me hope that we get a woman who worked for him to come forward. Because not only would I have been able to, as a former employee of the pervert I worked for, speak to his harassing behavior, but, I also knew some less than ethical (and some illegal) activities he was engaging in with regard to the business. You just know there's some former (or current) female employee out there who can not only corroborate his repulsive behavior towards women, but can also spill the beans about some of his corporate shenanigans. I think it has motivated women voters. I saw a story earlier tonight about how in some key swing states, early voting among women is way up. I would imagine that his attitude towards and treatment of women is the reason for that.

I'm kind of similar, except I have to take them pretty much every day. (I have an autoimmune disorder that causes extreme pain, and the medication that treats the disorder tried to kill me, so I'm kind of stuck with needing painkillers to stay out of the hospital.) I think that some people just don't have the chemical make up to be an addict, and I'm, luckily, one of those people. (I've had this condition for more than a decade, and after the initial few visits with the pain clinic, where we experimented with different meds and doses until we hit on what worked, I've never asked for an increased dose or more pills in all of that time.) I get concerned when I hear how much some would like to change the system. I know that there needs to be some change, because it is, currently, a little too easy for an addict to doctor shop and pharmacy hop to get them filled. If they can track and limit the purchase of Sudafed, like they do here in Illinois, they should also be able to track and limit the purchase of pain pills. That way if someone goes to multiple doctors and then takes one prescription to CVS, one to Walgreens, one to a local privately owned, pharmacy, etc, something will trigger in the system, flagging them as a potential abuser. Any patient getting a prescription for certain pain medications would have to sign something similar to what I sign with my pain clinic which, among other things, gives the physician and pharmacy permission to discuss the prescription with any other doctor who prescribes similar medications.