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Rumored Presidential Appointments


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This is now the merged topics of The Surrogates; The Election Peanut Gallery; and the Non-Media Indispensables - it covers all of those folks that AREN'T running for office, not just campaign surrogates

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A place to discuss all those people who wander from cable 'news' show to cable 'news' show repeating the campaign talking points.  Corey-Jeffrey-KellyAnne-Kayleigh-Scottie-Katrina-Betsy-Ana-etc, etc, etc.  Any one of them on any show fair game. 

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Can I ask why Trump has so many surrogates who are blonde women?  I don't have access to American cable news but whenever I see clips on the tube, Trump's surrogates are often women.  Is that purposeful because of his problem with female voters? 

And have surrogates been a constant feature of American electoral coverage for a long time now?  Why not just go interview the campaign spokesperson?   Because that wouldn't fill up enough hours on cable?

These interviews/panel discussions with these surrogates seem so pointless a lot of the time.  i don't really see constructive discussion.  The Trump ones to me sound completely idiotic.  It's concerning that such ill qualified people are given so much air time to spout nonsense without really being fact checked.

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I too have noticed the blond women.  I have to really look close to know which one it is on any given show.  I'm floored at how they just circle around to whatever the talking point of the day is regardless of what question got asked.  I'm also floored at how they think that their opinion is THE opinion of every voter registered to their party.  Each party is a big tent, and their voters don't believe the way they do on every point.  They don't realize that they insult a good portion of their potential voters when they do that.  They also seem to think that just because I am of a political party means that I am voting for them.... and I didn't today when I early voted.

I think the surrogates have come into vogue since the cable news networks went to 24 hours of all politics for 18-24 months before each election - which means pretty much all the time.  They have to have enough people to cover that. 

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(edited)

It seems odd to me, but I feel sorry for Billy Bush.  He's going to lose his job, and have this follow him around for the rest of his life.  Yet, I don't feel one bit sorry for Trump, and whatever the fallout ends up being for him.  I feel two faced about that, but there it is.  Why is that, do you think - other than I never watched his show, and didn't know who Billy Bush was until Friday night? I feel sorry for this Nancy person, who I also couldn't tell you anything about - has either of them apologized to her?  What about all the other men on that bus - whats' the fallout for them?

Edited by mythoughtis
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Katrina Pierson (the NON-blond one) actually seems the most epically stupid of the bunch. I'm hunting for the perfect clip of her stupidity and will likely have a follow-up post or two when I locate it. 

As for the blonds?  Well it's also a reflection of Fox News. Remember how seemingly overnight (well, over a period of a few years), 75% of the on-air faces on Fox News turned into fairly identical looking and sounding super-conservative blonds?

Heck, it wasn't until she cut her hair last year (by default, most of them have long hair), and started showing a little backbone, that I could even tell Meagan Kelly from the rest of that pack.

Edited by Kromm
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31 minutes ago, mythoughtis said:

It seems odd to me, but I feel sorry for Billy Bush.  He's going to lose his job, and have this follow him around for the rest of his life.  Yet, I don't feel one bit sorry for Trump, and whatever the fallout ends up being for him.  I feel two faced about that, but there is.  Why is that, do you think - other than I never watched his show, and didn't know who Billy Bush was until Friday night? I feel sorry for this Nancy person, who I also couldn't tell you anything about - has either of them apologized to her?  What about all the other men on that bus - whats' the fallout for them?

Nancy O'Dell wasn't the only one wronged, although it Bush's case it was a pretty deep betrayal because he worked right next to her for YEARS. Trump was a stranger. Bush was her co-worker.

The other woman who needs a huge apology is Days of Our Lives actress Arianne Zucker. She's the one in the purple dress who met them when they got off the bus. If you listen to the part on the bus, then watch the progression of what happens you may feel less sympathy for Billy Bush (although his betrayal of O'Dell already takes it down that path). Bush and Trump are talking about Zucker before they get off the bus. Bush talks about Zucker's legs, which actually isn't really all that bad, because he's not talking about violating her and there probably isn't a single heterosexual man on the planet who hadn't at some point rhapsodized about a nice pair of legs, or breasts, etc. It can get crude, but it's the "real" version of locker room talk ("look at those tits!" or even "I'd like to get into that pussy!"). They aren't statements about violation, even if they can be interpreted as disrespectful and shallow.  So aside from the fact that a decent man would have defended his co-worker, Bush isn't fully on the shit list yet at that point, IMO. Trump is, because he's not just talking about how good someone looks, or even a wish he could have sex with them, but rather about how he can take whatever he wants.

But it's Zucker's "pussy" Trump is alluding to grabbing, I think, more than O'Dell (who's being referred to in terms of Trump talking about breast implants and her refusing to cheat on her husband with him). Then once Trump figures out that knocking on a bus door doesn't magically summon a servant who breaks it down for him with an axe, Bush makes things worse, because he urges the lady to hug the both of them (right on the tail of Bush hearing Trump say that he can't stop himself from forcibly kissing beautiful women whenever he sees them). Not that a hug is epic in terms of violations, and ignorance was bliss for Zucker, because she hadn't even HEARD any of the talk about her, but it seems to show Bush in a really creepy light because he HAD. 

Oh, also if you hadn't heard of Billy Bush until Friday, it might interest you that he's Dubya Bush's first cousin (and Bush Sr.'s Nephew). I've seen a few people misidentify him as Dubya's cousin, but it's easy enough to check!

Edited by Kromm
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I always liked Billy Bush until Lochte and now.  That bit on the bus where he was pointing out Arianne Zucker to Drumpf, and then tried to instigate a kiss between them, was too much.  I always liked Arianne on DAYS, back when I watched it.   I thought she was a terrific actress, and did extremely well when she was given good material and good co-stars to act with, one of whom was Jennifer Anniston's dad, John. 

Kromm got there before me.

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3 minutes ago, atomationage said:

I always liked Billy Bush until Lochte and now.  That bit on the bus where he was pointing out Arianne Zucker to Drumpf, and then tried to instigate a kiss between them, was too much.  I always liked Arianne on DAYS, back when I watched it.   I thought she was a terrific actress, and did extremely well when she was given good material and good co-stars to act with, one of whom was Jennifer Anniston's dad, John. 

Kromm got there before me.

Ugh. Can't go there on Bush. Even BEFORE I knew he was Dubya's cousin (reason enough to be wary), he always rang a "smarm" alarm for me. He just felt slick and insincere constantly. That "hug for Bushie" moment is very typical of how he comes off.

Edited by Kromm
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28 minutes ago, atomationage said:

I always liked Billy Bush until Lochte and now.  That bit on the bus where he was pointing out Arianne Zucker to Drumpf, and then tried to instigate a kiss between them, was too much.  I always liked Arianne on DAYS, back when I watched it.   I thought she was a terrific actress, and did extremely well when she was given good material and good co-stars to act with, one of whom was Jennifer Anniston's dad, John. 

Kromm got there before me.

John Oliver's Billy Bush being creepy montage demonstrates it wasn't an isolated incident egged on by Trump.

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2 hours ago, biakbiak said:

John Oliver's Billy Bush being creepy montage demonstrates it wasn't an isolated incident egged on by Trump.

LOVE love love the final shot of that, where Oliver's editors managed a digital zoom in on the grossed out expression on whatshername's face (hey, I don't watch The Today Show, okay!)

On another topic, here's Trevor Noah talking with appreciation about Ken Bone:

Edited by Kromm
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Here's a surrogate gaffe/piece of outrageousness I heard about today but haven't found the clip for.

Supposedly one of the surrogates was on a news program recently (probably on Fox) where they referred back to Pussygate, but tried to deflect it onto the Democrats, based on the fact that Trump was a declared Democrat at the time.

EDIT - So apparently it was a Trump supporter, but arguably NOT a formal "surrogate" (because it's not someone who formally works for Trump). Also, it was a tweet and not a news program appearance. I guess the story got changed by the time I heard it, or I misremembered. Still... pretty ridiculous, ain't it?

Edited by Kromm
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3 minutes ago, Kromm said:

Here's a surrogate gaffe/piece of outrageousness I heard about today but haven't found the clip for.

Supposedly one of the surrogates was on a news program recently (probably on Fox) where they referred back to Pussygate, but tried to deflect it onto the Democrats, based on the fact that Trump was a declared Democrat at the time.

It was the Chair of Washington States Republican Party. She tweeted it a few days ago.

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2 hours ago, madmaverick said:

Can I ask why Trump has so many surrogates who are blonde women?  I don't have access to American cable news but whenever I see clips on the tube, Trump's surrogates are often women.  Is that purposeful because of his problem with female voters? 

And have surrogates been a constant feature of American electoral coverage for a long time now?  Why not just go interview the campaign spokesperson?   Because that wouldn't fill up enough hours on cable?

These interviews/panel discussions with these surrogates seem so pointless a lot of the time.  i don't really see constructive discussion.  The Trump ones to me sound completely idiotic.  It's concerning that such ill qualified people are given so much air time to spout nonsense without really being fact checked.

Welcome to the American cable news 24/7 News cycle....they have these folks on to fill up air time.  And yes, there are a lot of blond haired women(Fox News set the standard)

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Lets talk some about Megyn Kelly. 

I know she REALLY legitimately pissed a lot of people off years ago with the "Of course, Santa Claus is white" thing. I get why that burned a lot of bridges.

And over the years she certain towed the Fox News party line a ton and must have compromised herself a thousand different ways.

That said, somehow she's really managed to earn herself some credibility over the past year. It's like she cut her hair, put on that extra stylish short cut (which looks REALLY good on her and makes he look so much less like the rest of the Fox News Blond Robot Brigade), and grew some brains and some balls (metaphorically I mean).  The past year or so has been filled with lots of clips of her actually arguing with stupid Trump surrogates, and other people not using actual logic, when they come on her show.

Here's her utterly destroying Kellyanne Conway, for example:

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The reason Billy got busted is that he bragged about the incident and that is what caused Access Hollywood to go looking for it.    Not sorry--he fully participated in that conversation and egged Trump on.   He was a grown man with 3 kids when it happened, no excuse for it.

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3 hours ago, Kromm said:

Lets talk some about Megyn Kelly. 

I know almost nothing about the personalities who read their scripts on Fux or Faux "news", but Megan Kelly has been showing up on some of the YT channels that I visit frequently.   She seems to be able to say what she wants, which is shocking.  I usually avoid anything connected to that channel.   I knew someone who was a devotee of O'reilly and van Susteran, and I don't know how she could stand to listen to them.  I told her one time that if her black lab barked every time they said Obama, she would probably go insane.  Now, they're probably saying Hillary's name every five or ten seconds.   

OMG, I just saw a video of Megyn Kelly showing a video from John Oliver's Sunday show.  Has that ever happened before?

Edited by atomationage
now,
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1 hour ago, BuckeyeLou said:

And yes, there are a lot of blond haired women(Fox News set the standard)

Herzlich willkommen in die amerikanischen Kabelnachrichten 24/7 Nachrichtenzyklus .... haben sie diese Leute an, um Sendezeit vollzufüllen.  Und Ja, gibt es viele blonde behaarte Frauen (Fox News setzen den Standard)

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I can't decide what bugs me more - the stupidity of Trump surrogates or the sleaziness of the Hillary surrogates. And what do we have to do to put James Carville out to pasture?

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Everyday  a Trump surrogate steps up to be the worse. 

The only Clinton surrogate that bothers me is Howard Dean.   I mean all they have to do is spin the emails day after day, while the Trump surrogates never know what is coming at them from hour  to hour.

My favorite is when a Trump surrogate gets bent out of shape for the media not asking about Hillary scandals.  Ummm because your boy keeps doing something dumb?   

Extreme vetting coming back to bite ya.

Edited by tom87
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At least my worldview is once again aligned. I used to think Giuliani was a hypocritical, vindictive, lying, buffoon and then he acted, for the most part, decently and wisely after 9/11 and I was mollified. But now I can go back to loathing him.

Everyone's jumped on this "surrogates" nonsense. Maybe the pundits are finally tired of walking things back, pivoting, and leaning in. The word makes it sound like these people are on the candidates' payroll in some way. It's possible Trump's spokeswomen are, but when the news refers to President Obama as a Hillary surrogate, that's it for me.

I see James Carville on a lot of TV panels but not Mary Matalin. Last I heard, she had changed her party registration to Libertarian but was still describing herself as "provisional Trump" and "never Hillary." Has she opted out of the political limelight now?

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1 hour ago, lordonia said:

 I see James Carville on a lot of TV panels but not Mary Matalin. Last I heard, she had changed her party registration to Libertarian but was still describing herself as "provisional Trump" and "never Hillary." Has she opted out of the political limelight now?

She was on "This Week" this past weekend.

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Ugh, Matlin is even more repulsive than Carville. In a perfect world, Ana Navarro would have her own show so she could call out all surrogates on both sides. She is destroying the Trump surrogates right now.

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2 minutes ago, car54 said:

And in New Jersey news.....

http://nypost.com/2016/10/13/bridgegate-judge-issues-criminal-summons-for-christie/

Would it be mean to chant "Lock him up!" ?

In the continuing cascade of jaw-droppingly vile things said and done at the GOP convention, Christie's "lock her up" theater was the most chilling and odious of all. I have never seen anything like it and I am old enough to have voted for Jimmy Carter. I admit I'm guilty of over-Godwinizing stuff, but damn, that display was positively Hitleresque. 

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8 hours ago, lordonia said:

Everyone's jumped on this "surrogates" nonsense.

There are 3 major news networks that deal mainly with politics.  There needs to be content.  TV Politics (which has no bearing on journalists covering politics) is no longer about policy or statesmanship or news stories... and least of all about sober, measured discussion about finding a middle ground.  It's a big money earner through ad revenue, and hyping "scandals" and reporting something every 6 hours with breathless energy.  It's irresponsible hype, and part of the hype machine are PR flaks who are necessary to produce content, to deflect, to further, to accuse, to muddy, etc...  And that's why there are so many surrogates on TV these days.  My favorite is that Texan maniac who is Trumps surrogate... she's fucking CRAZY.
This current climate plays a role in why people don't like Hillary.  There is TV Politics which is a reality show that airs constantly on 3 networks.  And there is politics where adult professionals adjudicate the laws of the land, the policies of the people, and try to find the best way forward.  One is gangbusters TV, the other is not interesting to reality TV show fans.

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1 hour ago, Landsnark said:

There are 3 major news networks that deal mainly with politics.  There needs to be content.  TV Politics (which has no bearing on journalists covering politics) is no longer about policy or statesmanship or news stories... and least of all about sober, measured discussion about finding a middle ground.  It's a big money earner through ad revenue, and hyping "scandals" and reporting something every 6 hours with breathless energy.  It's irresponsible hype, and part of the hype machine are PR flaks who are necessary to produce content, to deflect, to further, to accuse, to muddy, etc...  And that's why there are so many surrogates on TV these days.  My favorite is that Texan maniac who is Trumps surrogate... she's fucking CRAZY.
This current climate plays a role in why people don't like Hillary.  There is TV Politics which is a reality show that airs constantly on 3 networks.  And there is politics where adult professionals adjudicate the laws of the land, the policies of the people, and try to find the best way forward.  One is gangbusters TV, the other is not interesting to reality TV show fans.

And that's just sad, because investigative journalism and serious informative pieces about policy, foreign affairs etc. all seem to have been left by the wayside.  When you see how some voters are so ill informed, and I'm sorry to say, ignorant, on the issues, it's more critical than ever that the media plays its role in trying to educate the public.  It is seriously scary to me when you see the false things people literally will believe about a candidate.  The fact checking is out there but I'm not sure it's getting through.  The surrogates sure don't help with that, or with any objective analysis of issues.  They, and the corporate owners, who want them on air, have turned what should be hard news into a reality show that contributes to an ever less intelligent and informative discourse with the public on important issues. 

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The thing is, the numbers prove without a doubt that viewers don't care about the facts.  They're reality TV show people who aren't interested in nuanced debate.  They want to hear, "Yeah, you'll be in jail."  They chose a team and are rooting for their team to win the news cycle.  It's a daily bit of entertainment, and  Trump's genius is he knows this.  He knew that he'd get free air time and the ad revenue he produced would be a drug the networks couldn't quit.  Ask Trump Junky Joe Scarborough and his foul, cowardly bosses.
This game was probably born w/Palin and the Tea Party's anger.  Certainly given rise from Fox News.  The lower the level of discourse, the more eyeballs are drawn.  Dumb it down, dumb it down, dumb it down, and if anybody objects, they are part of the problem and your enemy.  Us vs them.  More and more audience members avail themselves to this sort of discourse, because you don't have to have much invested in punditry or complex facts to enjoy Trump saying the "establishment is lying to you," and believe it.
There is no money in producing dry news, or straddling the line.  Internet or cable TV.  Citizens have to be curious and work to find perspective.   Walter Cronkite is gone, folks.

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After Trump threatened her at the last debate, I've been hoping that Hillary will have her AG take a look at Trump's violating the Cuba ban right away.   And I hope the fine for that is expensive.

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24 minutes ago, backformore said:

I didn't know where else to post this

The peanut gallery is exactly the right spot for that clip.  This spokesperson is what Drumpf is stuck with, because no one with more common sense wants to come out and defend him.  If God is using Drumpf, he or she should turn him upside down to mop the floor.  

Edited by atomationage
he or she
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It seemed to me that Megyn Kelly found that backbone when she got pregnant and realized that pregnant women, and mothers, have more difficult time in the workplace than non-pregnant women and non-mothers.  Its the whole, not recognizing the problem/issue until it affects you directly.

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I'm not even going to be snarky about this.  I'm opening myself up to ridicule, but I teared up watching this.

I know she doesn't have any interest in holding office herself, but if she ever does, I will move just so I can vote for her.

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Made doubly-so because in a hypothetical Hillary Clinton presidency, the traditional First Lady duties will most likely be done by Chelsea.  She did a similar function during the last year of her father's administration when Hillary was off running for Senate.

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5 minutes ago, starri said:

the traditional First Lady duties will most likely be done by Chelsea.

I had no idea.  In one interview that I saw, she did say something about going back to The White House.  I was wondering if her husband would be coming too.   What are they going to do with Bill, lock him in the basement?

Edited by atomationage
interview/bill
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5 minutes ago, starri said:

Made doubly-so because in a hypothetical Hillary Clinton presidency, the traditional First Lady duties will most likely be done by Chelsea.  She did a similar function during the last year of her father's administration when Hillary was off running for Senate.

I don't know that is true, the two situations are completely different.

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3 minutes ago, atomationage said:

I had no idea.  In one interview that I saw, she did say something about going back to The White House.  I was wondering if her husband would be coming too.   What are they going to do with Bill, lock him in the basement?

I don't think Bill has any interest in the social duties that go with the position of First Spouse.  I can't quite see him being quick to organize the White House Easter Egg Roll, for example.  I imagine Bill being Hillary's Eleanor Roosevelt, traveling and advocating for things.  It should be interesting to watch.

2 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

I don't know that is true, the two situations are completely different.

Eh, I don't know.  Chelsea has a family of her own, and it seems wrong for her to have to interrupt her life in order to fulfill some outmoded social role that doesn't really fit into modern society.  Michelle has been nothing short of a phenomenal role model, but I can't imagine it was fulfilling for her either.  Although I hope whoever moves in next keeps her garden.

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Back to the surrogates - can anyone name the democratic ones?  Usually the ones I see are on CNN and other than Paul, I think they are CNN employees.   I am not watching tonight yet, as I need to make sure I am totally calm before I start. 

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1 hour ago, starri said:

I don't think Bill has any interest in the social duties that go with the position of First Spouse.  I can't quite see him being quick to organize the White House Easter Egg Roll, for example.  I imagine Bill being Hillary's Eleanor Roosevelt, traveling and advocating for things.  It should be interesting to watch.

Eh, I don't know.  Chelsea has a family of her own, and it seems wrong for her to have to interrupt her life in order to fulfill some outmoded social role that doesn't really fit into modern society.  Michelle has been nothing short of a phenomenal role model, but I can't imagine it was fulfilling for her either.  Although I hope whoever moves in next keeps her garden.

That is what I was saying it was a completely different situation than when she filled in for her mother 16 years ago.

Curt Schilling defense is ridiculous.

Edited by biakbiak
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I think if I were Chelsea I'd jump at the chance to take on the role. It's a chance to be a role model for women and I think as a figurehead position it does serve the public in uniting people around the presidency and the family in the White House as our First Family and everything. As much as that can be done these days.

Plus, it's a once in a lifetime chance for her kids to have an historic experience in the White House. I don't know, I myself would love it.

And I agree that Bill won't do the traditional, decorative or hostess parts of that position, so why not?

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11 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

Curt Schilling can't is ridiculous.

Has he paid back Rhode Island yet?

I didn't think someone could have a worse response than the airplane-truther woman, but he managed.

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5 minutes ago, atomationage said:

I'm sure she changed her contact information as quickly as she could.   Lou Dobbs should get a restraining order, or whatever the electronic equivalent is.  Cut off his twitter.

He retweeted her home address which is much more problematic to change not to mention much more dangerous.

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