This thread is a perfect example of why Olbermann felt the need to say that in sincerity, though I'm certain it will fall entirely on deaf ears. Despite innumerable examples of precisely what he's talking about, Trump's defenders, and those who snipe at liberals for sport regardless of their support for Trump, seem incapable of acknowledging the most fundamental and undeniable truth about Trump as a person, and as President: he's pathological, in ways that I don't think anyone of our generation has seen in such a position of authority and power. Nakedly pathological. He lies in ways no one would ever think to lie, because no normal person would expect to get away with it. He says things no serious person seeking that office would dare say (citing National Inquirer to link Cruz' father to Lee Harvey Oswald; belittling Cruz' wife for her looks; etc.) Over, and over, and over again, this is what he does, what he's been doing since I can remember, in ways that were mildly amusing when he was a mere harmless rich celebrity, and deeply troubling now that he's our next President. I don't know if we'll reach a point where he proves himself unfit for the job, in ways undeniable and intolerable, if he hasn't already (literally defending a meddling, murderous Russian dictator at the expense of Americans, at every opportunity, apparently isn't enough), but I think it's a very real possibility.

But I don't think his voters would consider it a major loss, if Pence were to assume the presidency, so I don't know that they really need to brace themselves for anything one way or the other.

I think what Olbermann is really asking for is an acknowledgment of this undeniable truth, for the sake of the collective sanity of those who are incredulous that it's not a universally acknowledged truth. It's incredibly frustrating when people continue to deny the undeniable, and skate in circles around it (reference the responses here) like someone caught in a lie who stubbornly refuses to admit it. Or like a Hillary supporter who insists that her critics are driven by entirely by sexism, and that she really is a truthful and sincere public servant.

Nailed it. The craziness of those on the left is getting weird. Like the Facebook post that showed up on my feed the other day which was telling women to hurry up and stock up on Plan B by January 19. Really? So the morning after pill is going to disappear on January 20th? Get a clue.

The over the top commentary by the likes of Olberman (he is still around?) is ludicrous and only goes to show that the smart crowd just aren't really too bright. Shut up, take your medicine and live your life. The world will not end the day the Donald is our President.

So... you actually watched the video?

This seems appropriate here:

Dear Hollywood celebrities,

It’s time to wake up now. Get this! The only reason you exist is for my entertainment. Some of you are beautiful. Some of you can deliver a line with such conviction that you bring tears to my eyes. Some of you are so convincing that you scare the crap out of me. And others are so funny you can make me laugh uncontrollably.

But you all have one thing in common. You only exist and have a place in my world to entertain me. That’s it. Nothing else!

You make your living pretending to be someone else. You play dress-up like a 5-year-old. Your world is a make believe world. It is not real. It doesn’t exist. You live for the camera while the rest of us live in the real world. Your entire existence depends on my patronage. I crank the organ grinder, and you dance.


Therefore, I don’t care where you stand on issues. Honestly, your opinion means nothing to me. Just because you had a lead role in a movie about prostitution doesn’t mean you know what it’s like to be a prostitute. Your view matters far less to me than that of a someone living in Timbuktu .

Believe me or not, the hard truth is that you aren’t real. I turn off my TV or shut down my computer, and you cease to exist. Once I am done with you, I go back to the real world until I want you to entertain me again.

I don’t care that you think BP executives deserve the death penalty. I don’t care what you think about the environment. I don’t care if you believe fracking is bad. I don’t care if you call for more gun control. I don’t care if you believe in catastrophic human-induced global warming. And I could care less that you supported Hillary for President. Get back into your bubble. I’ll let you know when I’m in the mood for something pretty or scary or funny.

And one other thing. What was with all this “I’ll leave the country if Donald Trump wins”? Don’t you know how stupid that made you sound? What did you think my reaction was going to be? I better not vote for Trump or we’ll lose Whoopi Goldberg? Al Sharpton? Amy Schumer? Leave. I don’t care! And don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out. Oh by the way, is Clinton returning any of the money you so generously donated to her election?

Make me laugh. Make me cry. Even scare me. But realize this, the only words of yours that matter are scripted — just like your pathetic little lives. I may agree with some of you from time to time, but in the final analysis, it doesn’t matter. In my world, you exist solely for my entertainment. So, shut your pie hole and dance, monkey, DANCE!

So you didn't. But you know what it said and that it was wrong. You is smart.

I didn't what? And where have I mentioned anything about what was said?

Why are you so quick to assume? Is that smart?

It's not the lying itself- that's nothing new or even exceptional. We're in an age in which politicians feel comfortable lying and being obvious about it because they don't have to worry about being caught. They know everyone knows they're lying to start with, and they know it doesn't matter.

It's the pathological degree of pettiness and narcissism that stand out to me. Really insane. He doesn't even have the ability to self-censor himself for the sake of maintaining a normal appearance.

Make me laugh. Make me cry.

Even if that's true, the filter matters. It really matters. The inability to recognize that it is a real problem.

This seems appropriate here:

Dear Hollywood celebrities,

It’s time to wake up now. Get this! The only reason you exist is for my entertainment. Some of you are beautiful. Some of you can deliver a line with such conviction that you bring tears to my eyes. Some of you are so convincing that you scare the crap out of me. And others are so funny you can make me laugh uncontrollably.

But you all have one thing in common. You only exist and have a place in my world to entertain me. That’s it. Nothing else!

You make your living pretending to be someone else. You play dress-up like a 5-year-old. Your world is a make believe world. It is not real. It doesn’t exist. You live for the camera while the rest of us live in the real world. Your entire existence depends on my patronage. I crank the organ grinder, and you dance.


Therefore, I don’t care where you stand on issues. Honestly, your opinion means nothing to me. Just because you had a lead role in a movie about prostitution doesn’t mean you know what it’s like to be a prostitute. Your view matters far less to me than that of a someone living in Timbuktu .

Believe me or not, the hard truth is that you aren’t real. I turn off my TV or shut down my computer, and you cease to exist. Once I am done with you, I go back to the real world until I want you to entertain me again.

I don’t care that you think BP executives deserve the death penalty. I don’t care what you think about the environment. I don’t care if you believe fracking is bad. I don’t care if you call for more gun control. I don’t care if you believe in catastrophic human-induced global warming. And I could care less that you supported Hillary for President. Get back into your bubble. I’ll let you know when I’m in the mood for something pretty or scary or funny.

And one other thing. What was with all this “I’ll leave the country if Donald Trump wins”? Don’t you know how stupid that made you sound? What did you think my reaction was going to be? I better not vote for Trump or we’ll lose Whoopi Goldberg? Al Sharpton? Amy Schumer? Leave. I don’t care! And don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out. Oh by the way, is Clinton returning any of the money you so generously donated to her election?

Make me laugh. Make me cry. Even scare me. But realize this, the only words of yours that matter are scripted — just like your pathetic little lives. I may agree with some of you from time to time, but in the final analysis, it doesn’t matter. In my world, you exist solely for my entertainment. So, shut your pie hole and dance, monkey, DANCE! j

Come on, man. Would you hang out with a person who displayed behavior remotely similar to Trump?

Accurate, in total, but this part encapsulates the whole message.

Nailed it. The craziness of those on the right is getting weird. Like the Facebook post that showed up on my feed the other day which was telling peoplw to hurry up and stock up on guns n ammo by January 19. Really? So guns n ammo is going to disappear on January 20th? Get a clue.

This seems appropriate here:

Dear Hollywood celebrities,

It’s time to wake up now. Get this! The only reason you exist is for my entertainment. Some of you are beautiful. Some of you can deliver a line with such conviction that you bring tears to my eyes. Some of you are so convincing that you scare the crap out of me. And others are so funny you can make me laugh uncontrollably.

But you all have one thing in common. You only exist and have a place in my world to entertain me. That’s it. Nothing else!

You make your living pretending to be someone else. You play dress-up like a 5-year-old. Your world is a make believe world. It is not real. It doesn’t exist. You live for the camera while the rest of us live in the real world. Your entire existence depends on my patronage. I crank the organ grinder, and you dance.


Therefore, I don’t care where you stand on issues. Honestly, your opinion means nothing to me. Just because you had a lead role in a movie about prostitution doesn’t mean you know what it’s like to be a prostitute. Your view matters far less to me than that of a someone living in Timbuktu .

Believe me or not, the hard truth is that you aren’t real. I turn off my TV or shut down my computer, and you cease to exist. Once I am done with you, I go back to the real world until I want you to entertain me again.

I don’t care that you think BP executives deserve the death penalty. I don’t care what you think about the environment. I don’t care if you believe fracking is bad. I don’t care if you call for more gun control. I don’t care if you believe in catastrophic human-induced global warming. And I could care less that you supported Hillary for President. Get back into your bubble. I’ll let you know when I’m in the mood for something pretty or scary or funny.

And one other thing. What was with all this “I’ll leave the country if Donald Trump wins”? Don’t you know how stupid that made you sound? What did you think my reaction was going to be? I better not vote for Trump or we’ll lose Whoopi Goldberg? Al Sharpton? Amy Schumer? Leave. I don’t care! And don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out. Oh by the way, is Clinton returning any of the money you so generously donated to her election?

Make me laugh. Make me cry. Even scare me. But realize this, the only words of yours that matter are scripted — just like your pathetic little lives. I may agree with some of you from time to time, but in the final analysis, it doesn’t matter. In my world, you exist solely for my entertainment. So, shut your pie hole and dance, monkey, DANCE!

It's not the lying itself- that's nothing new or even exceptional. We're in an age in which politicians feel comfortable lying and being obvious about it because they don't have to worry about being caught. They know everyone knows they're lying to start with, and they know it doesn't matter.

It's the pathological degree of pettiness and narcissism that stand out to me. Really insane. He doesn't even have the ability to self-censor himself for the sake of maintaining a normal appearance.

Simple (or absent) grammatical structures leave the audience with nothing so taxing as a train of thought: rather, a random collage of emotive terms, repeated for emphasis. You come away from a Trump speech with a feeling, not an argument.

A related point: where Trump’s language differs most profoundly from that of any of his predecessors is in his ability flatly and unblushingly to contradict himself. I’m saying this not to rattle my pearls at how awful he is, but to marvel at how it works rhetorically.

Most politicians are good at being equivocal. They are“economical with the actualite”; they “misspeak”; in extremis, like Bill Clinton, they may quibble over “what the meaning of ‘is’ is”. But they do not like to say something that is unequivocally, checkably at odds with the truth of their behaviour or with their previous statements.

This is because, as a rule, the most effectively damaging charge against a politician has been dishonesty – or its practical cousin, hypocrisy. The media can say you are wrong or even evil. But these attacks don’t nail you to the wall. They can be ascribed to ideological opposition or to differing interpretations of data. If you said X and you did Y, or you said X and they prove you knew Y was the case, you are sunk. You have damned yourself on your own terms.

This rule shows all signs of having been suspended for President-elect Trump. Yes, a lot of the time he’s vague. But when he does say things that are concrete, he says them directly: I never supported the Iraq war; Alicia Machado made a sex tape; I saw thousands of Muslims cheering 9/11; Hillary Clinton started the rumours about Obama’s birth certificate but Donald Trump “finished them”, and so on. Often those things can be proved to be untrue, or contradict something he previously said. Yet that seems to do him no harm at all.

I wonder at this as much, I imagine, as you do. My hunch is that we have an electorate so used to politicians being equivocal, and so enraged by it, that the bounce Trump gets from not sounding like that is much bigger than the demerit he incurs for being a clouds-of-smoke-billowing-from-his-pants liar. We’d rather have an open liar, in other words, than a conventional politician. Let’s see how that works out.