Giuliani just used the expression “bimbo squad” to refer to. . . Hillary. It sounds quite funny coming from a guy whose candidate keeps importing brain-dead bimbos from third-world countries. 

And since I’m on the subject of the NYTimes, here is another interesting quote. Trump is being asked whether the US should have anything to say about violations of human rights in Turkey:

“I don’t think we have a right to lecture,” Mr. Trump said in a wide-ranging interview in his suite in a downtown hotel here, while keeping an eye on television broadcasts from the Republican National Convention. “Look at what is happening in our country,” he said. “How are we going to lecture when people are shooting policemen in cold blood?”

What’s really curious is that I heard this before verbatim, including the insistent repetition of the word “to lecture.” This is one of the favorite arguments of one V. Putin. Anybody who listens to Russian news would recognize the vocabulary and the turn of phrase immediately. I got goosebumps when I saw it.

My explanation is that these lines are being fed to Trump by Manafort. Manafort worked for Putin in Ukraine and had many opportunities to hear these very famous lines. Gradually, they sank in and now he has unwittingly passed them on to his new candidate. It’s not a conspiracy or anything but the end result is that Putin has a major candidate for US presidency say exactly what Putin himself always says about the US.

“What right do they have to lecture?” Putin asks.

“What right do we have to lecture?” a US presidential candidate obediently echoes.

Creepy as hell.

There is an article in the NYTimes whose author not only blames the French for provoking the terrorists into slaughtering them by wounding the killers’ dignity but also makes thinly veiled threats that more attacks are forthcoming if the French don’t ditch the entire legacy of the French republicanism that dates back to 1789. There is not a single sentence expressing sympathy and compassion for the victims. Instead, the author poutily scolds the French for forcing terrorists to slaughter, bomb, cut people into pieces and hit them with trucks by not being welcoming enough to burqas and public prayer.

“France is no more Islamophobic than its neighbors,” the pouty fellow announces. And he should know all about Islamophobia since his vision of Muslims as violent, volatile and essentially dumb people who are ready to go cut off some heads whenever they decide that their dignity has been wounded by the fall of Bastille centuries ago reeks of hatred for Islam. Instead of asking just how desperate these terrorists could have been to practice Islam if they boozed, whored around and killed people wantonly irrespective of what the Prophet had to say about these activities, the sorry fellow makes Muslims look worse than Donald Trump could ever hope to do.  Instead of drawing attention to the hundreds of millions of Muslims who grieve for victims, fear terrorists, and live peaceful, productive lives, this stupid piece of work leaves no space in his narrative of Islam for its peaceful, non-violent version. 

What can be more Islamophobic, I ask you, than this kind of “defense” of Muslims?

So Cruz got to the stage at the RNC and refused to endorse Trump? And made nods to the #NeverTrump movement? 

Hah.

I’m not subscribed to Trump’s campaign, obviously, but I am to Hillary’s, and she’s knocking it out of the ballpark on social media and with texting. There are quizzes, interesting factoids on Pence, great videos. This is a well-organized campaign. I wasn’t sure what I knew about Pence (other than that the two people I know in Indiana make choking sounds whenever he is mentioned) but Hillary’s campaign made me very informed very fast. The only thing I’m still missing is a sticker.

What I love about N is that he never uses a person’s gaffes to make her feel bad. (And I’m like that, too, in RL if not on the blog.)

Today, for instance, it turned out that carpet cleaning is taking a lot longer than I thought and we have to camp out in the basement for the night.

“Did you think it would take less time?” N asks.

“Yes, because we did carpet cleaning back in Montréal, and it took very little time,” I explain. 

“Maybe the square footage was a bit smaller,” N muses, and I collapse with laughter. Yes, it was a bit smaller. It was the tiniest little one-bedroom we managed to find in downtown Montréal. And I thought it would take the same time to clean as this huge place. 

The carpet cleaner is over 10 years younger than me for sure. He has 3 kids and a 16-year-old girlfriend who has a 3-month-old baby with somebody else. 

People have interesting lives. 

There is an expression in Russian “to be friends against somebody.” It’s describes a friendship that’s held together by nothing but a joint hatred for somebody else. 

I keep remembering this expression every time I turn on the RNC. If there were no shared Hillary hatred  (and Obama hatred, of course), these folks would have nothing to bind them together. There is no emotional response from the crowd to anything but Hillary. There are no thoughts and ideas about anything but Hillary. There’s more Hillary here than there will be at the DNC.

I just found a moment to Google Pokémon GO. What a fantastic thing! I’m not going to play because it’s +40C and 98% humidity outside but I’m wildly enthusiastic about the game. This is the future of apping and online gaming. People will get off their asses and get outside. This is so great!