And even harder to admit that you're being fooled.

NOBODY wants to do that. It's only the really honest, realistic, and genuinely grown-up people who can do that.

Welcome to DU, bora13!

I actually feel sorry for Melania. She's 46. Yikes! He's been known to trade in aging models for newer, blonder models. I hope she hasn't reached her sell-by date.

Welcome to DU, vollehosen!

Charles Pierce of Esquire recently wrote that Russia is all Trump should be asked about from now til November. l wonder how deep this goes.

Pierce said at the time that Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo already seemed to be onto something:

Let's start with the basic facts. There is a lot of Russian money flowing into Trump's coffers and he is conspicuously solicitous of Russian foreign policy priorities.

I'll list off some facts.

1. All the other discussions of Trump's finances aside, his debt load has grown dramatically over the last year, from $350 million to $630 million. This is in just one year while his liquid assets have also decreased. Trump has been blackballed by all major US banks.

2. Post-bankruptcy Trump has been highly reliant on money from Russia, most of which has over the years become increasingly concentrated among oligarchs and sub-garchs close to Vladimir Putin.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump-putin-yes-it-s-really-a-thing

Says it all.

Thanks for this, madamesilverspurs! I'm so stealing it!

John Heilemann who's got that show on MSNBC with Mark Halperin made this point

about those right direction/wrong track polls. What does that really mean, the question "do you think the country is going in the right direction, or has it veered off onto the wrong track?" I got asked that in a Gallup poll one evening, several years ago. They called my house. We had a land line. And I had to stop and think because I knew how my answer might be interpreted. Even though President Obama was President, if I said I thought the country was going in the wrong direction, I felt that way because the fucking Senate and House were blocking him at almost every turn and doing everything they could do to thwart him. But I feared that my "wrong direction" answer would be interpreted wrongly. Simplistically. Surface-only. Wrong direction, and he's President, so obviously it's because of HIM. Which is why I said "right direction." We had (and still have) a DEM in the White House, so that has to be positively reinforced.

I wish pollsters would ask a follow-up to that question. Right direction/wrong track - how come? And offer a multiple-choice answer. Because of the President. Because of the Congress. They don't. Or at least, I haven't seen it or heard about it yet. But they should. It would provide a more accurate picture of public opinion.

And yeah, if I were asked today, I'd say the country's going on the wrong track - because our President is STILL so badly obstructed and hampered by a stubborn, pigheaded, asshole GOP-dominated Congress!

Welcome to DU, Mellomugwump!

Or, as auntpurl more accurately noted, welcome BACK to DU.

You make a worthy point here. Lots of young people, for whom this may be the very first campaign experience or convention experience, just weren't around when the persecution of Hillary Clinton began. Or they were too young. Well, I'M old! And I remember clearly and maybe even with probably some grudge-holding. I HATE it - how the witch burning has continued. I HATE it when people badmouth her, and condemn her, and spread lies about her and believe the lies that others spread about her, and call her names. I HATE it when my beloved best friend starts spouting what I KNOW are Pox Noise propaganda blurbs against Hillary.

I read one opinion that stated most people who've learned or been schooled by the CONSTANT dumping on Hillary might not even be able to explain why she lied, or why she's corrupt, or why she's "bought and paid for" - it's just what they hear. I've even tried it myself - "lied about WHAT?" "How is she corrupt?" "What do you mean she's corrupt"? and so forth. And they can't come up with specifics. I heard someone describing how they watched her Benghazi testimony and while they found her "masterful" all that long tortured day, "she lied the whole time!" I hollered over - "about what?" They couldn't come up with an answer! They've just heard, over and over and over, "she's a liar" so that's all that's needed, I guess. The programming sure works.

I can fully understand and sympathize with her statements that - yes, she's careful with her words. Yes, she's guarded. Yes, she's not terribly forthcoming, personally. Well, WHO WOULDN'T BE, WHO'S BEEN FREAKIN' PERSECUTED FOR APPROXIMATELY 25 YEARS??????? I'd certainly feel like that! Seems as though there are days when she can't even get out of bed in the morning without being pelted with criticism - for what a shitty way others think she gets out of bed in the morning!!!

I had a mother who was hyper-critical. Found fault with me all the time. It's totally screwed me up, gotta tell you. Fat-shaming for 50-some-odd years will do that to you. Didn't matter how many years I made straight A's, stayed out of trouble, and hung out with fellow nerds who never got in trouble either. I was NEVER quite good enough because I wasn't a size 2. I did have really great hair so I grew it long and had long bangs and I hid under them - and sure enough I got criticized for THAT, too! NOTHING I did was ever good enough. I coulda cured cancer and I STILL wouldn't be good enough. My mother even told me as much, from her hospital bed one day, when I asked her "Mom, can't you just accept me the way I am?" And she told me the truth - "No. I can't." I had a feeling that's what she'd say. And as the Rude Pundit would put it, "well, fuck us all with a surprise stick."

Hmmm... guess I identify too personally with Hillary. But well, there you are. Guilty as charged. But seriously. I TOTALLY get why she's guarded. She has a good reason to be that way. I would be, too. I only had my mother criticizing me all the doggone time. Hillary has LEGIONS of people, from every quarter - public and private/pro and non-pro criticizing her all the time. And I'll always give her the benefit of the doubt.

Yep. We've known this all along.

And what a fantastic trend it is!

I hope ALL these "laws" are struck down! WHY anybody would want to change the laws to make it HARDER to vote is beyond me. Unless maybe it's because they know if more people are able to vote, more people will not vote for them...

When that group of supporters goes that way, it makes me wonder whether they

actually supported HIM, at all. If they really did support him and trust his judgment and have such faith in him, why wouldn't they trust him on supporting Hillary Clinton. Seems to me they'd have to know that he didn't make that shift without good reason and a lot of careful thought.

Welcome to DU, RexCasual!

I know how you feel. I was so relieved that the Democratic convention came second. We got the last word, and we'll be the main takeaway from this two-week period. People tend to remember best what they heard last.