Friday Fun – Debate #4 (Or #3 If You Don’t Count the VP One)

 Posted by at 8:50 am  Politics
Oct 212016
 

Well, that’s that – they’re done.  If you missed the Debate Wednesday night, the Cliff Notes version would focus on a few key bumper sticker gems supplied by Trump.  (Hillary thinks, speaks and acts in complete sentences and paragraphs.  Trump’s mind is just not capable of even that level of thought.) 

I mean Trump was supplying Twitter with so many mocking Memes generated by his debate stupidity that you had to wonder if he even knew that his mic was on!

(I should note that all the quotes are from the annotated transcript from the Washington Post.)

So let’s have a little fun with the bilious blathering bombast from that bloviating buffoon better known as Donald Trump:

TRUMP: But we have some bad hombres here, and we're going to get them out.

Well, THAT should help with the republican Latino outreach program.

And throughout all three of their debates, Hillary has been deft at dangling that wiggly worm in front of Trump.  And once again he was just NOT able to refuse taking the bait.  So I guess that makes Hillary a Master Baiter.

Here’s proof-positive that Trump was able to rise only to the level of any competent third-grader's witty repartee with the standard issue “I’m-Rubber-You’re-Glue…” response on this exchange:

trump_debate_youre-the-puppet_01

CLINTON: Well, that's because he'd rather have a puppet as president of the United States.

TRUMP: No puppet.  No puppet.

CLINTON: And it's pretty clear…

TRUMP: You're the puppet!

CLINTON: It's pretty clear you won't admit…

TRUMP: No, you're the puppet.

But of course we all know who’s pulling Trump’s strings.  The entire intelligence community services have documented that it’s Putin behind the curtain

trump-putin_puppet

But the most popular Meme of the evening that will be around for quite some time is when Trump unwisely interrupted HIllary with this outburst – an outburst that yet again burnished his credentials as a card-carrying, world-class misogynist.

TRUMP: Such a nasty woman.

For fun, type into your URL address bar NastyWomenGetShitDone.com – and see where it takes you.

But the debate did provide a seriously disturbing quote that will haunt Trump – AND the entire republican Party – for a long time to come.  If it were not already a done-deal, I think it cost him the election.

It happened after Moderator Wallace gave him several chances to pledge that he would accept the will of the American people on Election Day.  But Trump turned away Wallace’s repeated offers with:

TRUMP: What I'm saying is that I will tell you at the time. I'll keep you in suspense. OK?

Trump’s main mantra in response to the looming likelihood of him becoming a Loser has been that the election is rigged and Hillary cheats.

Now this may come as surprise, but it appears that Trump may be right WRT the latter charge.  Did you happen to catch the candidate TV shot of Hillary’s cheat-sheet notes that she kept glancing down at during the debate? 

hillary_debate_notes_party-champagne-balloons

Oops … wrong notes.

But the debate did have its lighter moments.  Even Trump decided he could tell a few jokes …

TRUMP: Nobody has more respect for women than I do. Nobody.

(LAUGHTER)

Yep – there apparently was so much audience laughter at this whopper that Moderator Wallace had to turn around and admonish them not to dis Fox's chosen candidate.

Of course it's no laughing matter, given that …

And here’s my take on it:

hillary_obama_laughing-hysterical_trump-respect-women

See … the Debates CAN be fun!

 

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The Third Ring

 Posted by at 1:38 pm  Politics
Oct 202016
 

This years Presidential debates have been a three ring circus, and last night the third ring should certainly have sealed the deal for Hillary Clinton.  Although Trump had been well muzzled by his handlers, Clinton’s prodding and probing broke through that facade after half an hour.  By the end, she had reduced Trump to a red-faced, scowling, muttering fool.

1020debate

In the third and final presidential debate, Mrs. Clinton outmaneuvered Mr. Trump with a surprising new approach: his.

Flipping the script, she turned herself into his relentless tormentor, condescending to him repeatedly and deploying some of his own trademark tactics against him.

The relatively subdued and largely defanged Republican nominee who showed up onstage at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was a different figure from the candidate America has watched for the past 16 months.

Mr. Trump was, for much of the night, oddly calm and composed. He minimized his name-calling. His interruptions were relatively rare for him.

In a debate that his allies had predicted would represent 90 minutes of scorched-earth verbal warfare, Mr. Trump seemed deserted by his most bellicose instincts.

He repeatedly gave up chances to respond to pointed taunts from Mrs. Clinton, who dominated the confrontation from its opening moments, needling and baiting him over and over…

From <NY Times>

Here are three short video clips from Rachel Maddow.  In the first she summarizes the debate, stressing his increasing agitation and the evenings bombshell.

In the second, she examines the facts behind the absurd Republican voter fraud claims.

In the third, she covers how Pence is goose-stepping with Trump refusal.

The Bottom line is this. No prominent Republicans have withdrawn their support from Trump, so no matter how much they whine, they own Trump and all his positions.

The Republican Party is a cancer that must be excised to save the United States.

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Open Thread – 10/20/2016

 Posted by at 1:38 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 202016
 

I’m trying to catch up on a bit of rest today, because tomorrow, I go for my appointment with Courtney, my Physical Terrorist.  As a result, please expect no more than a Personal Update tomorrow.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:15 (average 6:40).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube: How Democrats Take Back the Senate

 

The Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right about the absolute need to wrest control of the Senate from the Reich on the right, the Republican Reich. I’m particularly proud that he listed Jeff Merkley third in his list of progressive Senators, behind only Liz and Bernie.

From The New Yorker: After learning that Donald J. Trump was still stinging from having lost an Emmy for “The Celebrity Apprentice,” the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences offered to give the former reality-show host a belated Emmy if he will drop out of the 2016 race.

“We never imagined that if we had simply given you an Emmy back in the day our current national nightmare might have been avoided,” a Television Academy spokesman said in an online video.

Displaying an Emmy statuette, the spokesman said, “Here’s your Emmy, Mr. Trump, all gold and shiny, just the way you like things to be.”

Andy, what a wonderful idea!

From Think Progress: Chris Wallace, a veteran Fox News journalist, was already a controversial choice to host Wednesday night’s final presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Wallace is noted for his close relationship with Roger Ailes, who is currently advising Trump on the debates, prompting media experts to raise ethical questions about his involvement.

Ultimately, Wallace did win praise for holding Trump accountable on several issues and keeping both candidates on task throughout the debate. Yet as much as he tried to play things equally, several of his questions showed a clear bias towards conservative ideals, policy positions, and talking points.

Here are a few.

Abortion
Wallace frames his question using the term “partial-birth.”
“I’m going to give you a chance respond but I want to ask you Secretary Clinton I want to explore how far you believe the right to abortion goes. You have been quoted as saying that the fetus has no constitutional rights. You also voted against a ban on late-term partial-birth abortions. Why?”

“Open borders”
This quote mentioned below, often cited in conservative media, has been taken out of context.
“Mr. Trump you want to build a wall. Secretary Clinton you have offered no specific plan or how you want to secure our southern border. … We’ve learned from the Wikileaks that you said this, and I want to quote ‘My dream is a hemispheric common market with open trade and open borders,’ so that is the question…Is that your dream, open borders?”

I shared two of five examples of Wallace’s clear Republican bias. Click through for the other three.

Cartoon:

1020Cartoon

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As Seen From Afar 10/20/2016

 Posted by at 9:01 am  Politics
Oct 202016
 

hedgehog-looks-binocularsDONALD TRUMP MAY BE ON HIS WAY OUT, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE TRUMP VOTER?

You might say that Donald Trump has put his foot in it in last night’s final Presidential Debate when the Jeff Flake, senator from Arizona, one of the swing-states twitters:
.@realDonaldTrump saying that he might not accept election results is beyond the pale
and when conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer from Fox News thinks that Trump blew his chances with this answer on accepting the results. “Political suicide.” Krauthammer called it because in his view Trump should have stopped the slide in this debate. The slide of people grudgingly going over to Clinton after holding out for a year. He thinks that people are not going to change their views on Clinton, but if they can change their views on Trump. Trump should have shown them that he is acceptable as president, not a radical. They don't want a radical who will challenge the foundations of the republic.

Right-wing New York Post-columnist John Podhoretz also comes to the conclusion that Donald Trump just handed Hillary Clinton the election with his refusal to be clear on what will happen if he loses the election.

Not accepting the results is the main theme of comments in many Western countries.  Anna Caldwell in from News Corp Australia Network blogs: “Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump doubled down on controversial claims that the US election is rigged during a presidential debate, refusing to say he will respect the result.”

Other news sites media commented on the debate, and on Trump in particular, in a more general fashion. Australian The New Daily quotes Bryan Cranston, a Swinburne University politics expert: “Trump’s biggest strength is himself, but it is also his weakness. Facts play little role in his campaign and his rhetoric and spin works well when he is only with supporters. [emphasis mine] But in a debate with an opponent you need facts, and the holes in his argument became dramatically transparent.”

Anthony Zurcher, North America reporter for the BBC describes how “after roughly half an hour of something resembling an actual policy debate about the Supreme Court, gun rights, abortion and even immigration, the old Donald Trump – the one who constantly interrupted his opponent, sparred with the moderator and lashed out at enemies real and perceived – emerged.” And concludes with “Mr Trump has called American democracy into question – and when he shakes that particular tree, it's impossible to determine who might get crushed by falling branches.”

On the Dutch national news site Sander Warmerdam warns: “The big question remains what happens when Trump doesn't win this time. Clinton is doing very well in the polls. This debate will go down well with the angry Trump supporters but will move few undecided voters.” [my translation]

There is a certain feeling of unease emanating from the European and Australian comments since Donald Trump became the Republican nominee and that becomes most apparent in statements about the Trump’s voters pointing out that his supporters stay loyal to him no matter how many of his statement are debunked by fact checkers or how many times his statements are called bigoted, racist, misogynist or islamophobic. Much attention is payed to Trump voters not believing the facts that are revealed about his personal life and behavior nor of his disdain for them as group. The fact that about 40% of Americans still favor Trump is both baffling and worrying to the media, but also a grateful subject to keep ratings high.  

Wilson/AP PHOTO

This has also been noted by TV  reviewers like Hans Beerekamp who noted: “I’m starting to find the outrage in the media about the American circus quite hypocritical, because many of the same media have always eagerly reported on the polarization and to a large extent have created it. It's TV that has given birth to Trump (Verdonk, Wilders), not the other way around. By the excessive media attention for their views, these have become more acceptable. [translation mine]" Beerenkamp refers here to Rita Verdonk and Geert Wilders, two Dutch populists, and by doing so uncovers the source of the unease felt by many in the West: large groups of voters, unhappy with the way their country is run, looking for leaders who appear to listen to them.

Europe and Australia are no strangers to a growing population of grudging, anti-establishment or protest voters who are willing to throw in their lot with populist politicians and parties. The Dutch have their Geert Wilders and his PVV, claiming to be Prime Minister after next year’s elections, France has her Marine Le Pen and her Front National who did very well in the local elections this year, Australia has seen the return of Pauline Hanson and her One Nation in the senate. And of course Nigel Farage and UKIP have made their indelible mark on the British Brexit referendum.

Dutch protester welcoming fugitives told off by Wilders supporter
AD/Jean-Pierre Jans

Britons, edged on by UKIP and some conservatives in the Tory party (Boris Johnson), have voted to leave the European Union and have left Europeans and its economies, especially that of the UK itself) in a state of shock and have made leaders more aware of the attraction populist have to dissatisfied and angry people, both in Europe and in America. Even “establishment” institute like the IMF have seen the writing on the wall and are willing to (partly) put blame where blame is due. In a report released at the beginning of the month the IMF said “Globally, concerns are growing about political discontent, income inequality and populist policies, threatening to derail globalization.” IMF chief economist Obstfeld said "that persistently weak growth that leaves lower-income people behind has fueled a political movement "that blames globalization for all woes" adding that the vote for "Brexit" was one example of this. He warned governments that "Without a determined policy action to support economic activity over the short and longer terms subpar growth at recent levels risks feeding on itself through the negative economic and political forces it is unleashing." In other words: governments should invest more in those that have not benefitted from growth in the past and decrease income inequality instead of widening the gap if they want to see economic growth in their country.

Words Hillary Clinton would do well to heed, because when she wins the election, Donald Trump may soon fade from the political scene, but his voters, and those of all the other populists in the world, will still be there.

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Questions for the Circus

 Posted by at 2:04 pm  Politics
Oct 192016
 

Tonight is the final debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.  I recommend you open at least a dozen giant, industrial strength barf bags in advance.  As the moderator is Chris Wallace from the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, I expect him to join Trump in tag-teaming Hillary.  The New York Times has  composed a dozen prospective questions, two for each segment.  Here are the first three.

1019questions
Entitlements

Do you favor increasing or reducing Social Security benefits? If so, how would you do it?

More than 60 million people each month receive Social Security benefits totaling more than $74 billion. Polls show that retirement security is a top concern for Americans. Fewer people can count on traditional pension benefits, and some people do not have retirement savings.

Mr. Trump has said he would not cut Social Security benefits. Mrs. Clinton wants to make Social Security more generous for widows and for those who take time out of the paid work force to care for a child or a sick family member. She has said she would require the wealthiest Americans to pay higher taxes.

But an aging population is a driver of rising government debt and of a budget deficit that climbed last fiscal year after several years of decline.

What three steps would you take to improve Medicare?

The aging of baby boomers and the increase of medical costs will squeeze the health insurance program, which now covers 57 million older Americans. Medicare trustees say the hospital insurance trust fund could be exhausted in 2028 if no changes are made to existing law.

Both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump say Medicare should be able to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies. Mrs. Clinton has proposed allowing people ages 55 to 64 to buy into Medicare, but has not said how the government or the new beneficiaries would pay for the coverage. ROBERT PEAR

Immigration

Since 2012, hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children have registered with the government under President Obama’s executive order that gives them work permits and guarantees they will not be deported. Will you honor those guarantees?

Frustrated by Republicans’ refusal to overhaul the nation’s immigration system, Mr. Obama used executive authority to provide opportunities for millions of law-abiding immigrants who are in the country illegally. But the Supreme Court has blocked some of his plan, and the next president will have the power to reverse the rest… [emphasis original]

From <NY Times>

I urge you to click through to read the other nine questions.  While I would not ask them all, I can only hope that the Republican propagandist moderator will be half this responsible.  I doubt it as he has already promised Trump not to challenge his lies.

One question I want to see asked is, "If you lose the election, will you accept the results and bow out gracefully?"

How about you?  What would you like to see asked?

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Open Thread – 10/19/2016

 Posted by at 2:03 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 192016
 

We’re having some excitement here in the Rose City, as a contractor ruptured a gas line and a building about 25 blocks from me exploded.  I did not hear it, but I knew something was up, because I heard several sirens at once from different distances away.  Please join me in prayer, or however you connect to the infinite, for the injured and their loved ones.  I have a busy day.  Store to Door is delivering groceries later this afternoon, and I have to put them away.  Later Wendy will be here to shine and polish the TomCat and do some light cleaning.  Then we’ll construct a green cloud and send it north to find the Squatch.  That assumes we can hold the chili down, as Hillary will be debating, and Rump Dump will be masdebating at the same time we are eating.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:41 (average 4:45).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: The courts are not looking kindly at Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s multiple efforts to keep people—primarily Democrats—from voting. Last week, his refusal to extend the voter registration deadline in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew was denied, and voter registration continues into this week. Then on Sunday, a federal judge ruled that the state must allow absentee voters to verify their signatures and have their votes count.

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker’s ruling was a victory for the Florida Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee, which sued the state Oct. 3 arguing Florida canvassing boards shouldn’t immediately reject a ballot if a voter’s signature doesn’t match the one on file. The state gives voters who forget to sign their mail ballots a chance to fix the problem before Election Day—but doesn’t offer voters with mismatched signatures the same opportunity. […]

"It is illogical, irrational, and patently bizarre for the State of Florida to withhold the opportunity to cure from mismatched-signature voters while providing that same opportunity to no-signature voters," he wrote. "And in doing so, the State of Florida has categorically disenfranchised thousands of voters arguably for no reason other than they have poor handwriting or their handwriting has changed over time." […]

The Republican War against the right to vote never ends.

From The New Yorker: In an Oval Office ceremony on Wednesday morning, President Barack Obama signed an executive order requiring the loser of the 2016 Presidential election to leave the country forever.

“This will help the healing begin,” the President said.

The executive order calls for the loser of the November 8th election to depart the country on the morning of November 9th and never return.

“Whoever that turns out to be,” the President said.

But Andy, it doesn’t go far enough. Make Rump Dump Whoever leave the earth and go to the Cruz planet.

From CMD: ExxonMobil and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) are running an illegal scheme to promote the oil giant’s climate denial policies and legislative agenda in violation of U.S. tax law governing charitable organizations, the Center for Media Democracy (CMD) and Common Cause charged today.

In a new filing to the IRS – adding to an active investigation prompted by a 2012 complaint that ALEC is operating as a corporate lobbying group while registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity – the watchdog organizations detail for the first time how Exxon has used ALEC as a key asset in its explicit campaign to sow uncertainty about climate science, undermine international climate treaties and block legislation to reduce emissions. While ALEC purports to spend zero dollars on lobbying, Exxon has deliberately used ALEC for the past two decades to advance its legislative goals concerning cap-and-trade policies, fracking, the Keystone Pipeline and the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan.

“It has become painfully obvious over the past few years that ALEC is corporate lobby front group masquerading as a charity—at taxpayer expense,” said Arn Pearson, general counsel at CMD. “If the laws governing nonprofits are to mean anything, the IRS needs to take action to enforce them in this case.”

“For years ALEC has been a key asset in Exxon’s multi-billion dollar campaign to push a dangerous climate-denial agenda and secretly lobby politicians on anti-environmental legislation that pollutes the environment,” said Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause. “It is time for the IRS to act and curb these blatant abuses.”

Today, CMD and Common Cause provided the IRS Whistleblower Office with extensive evidence obtained through open records requests, original research and public financial documents detailing intentional misuse of ALEC by the Exxon to advance legislation of direct benefit to the company. Over a 17-year period, Exxon and its foundation spent more than $1.7 million to finance lobbying activity by ALEC on legislation and public policies that benefit the corporation, while improperly and illegally claiming a tax deduction for those expenditures.

These Republicans (ALEC) need to be stripped of their 501 status, criminally prosecuted,  and put out of business permanently.

Cartoon:

1019Cartoon

Hat-Tip to Bill Maher for the concept.

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Hillary Invades Red States

 Posted by at 1:37 pm  Politics
Oct 182016
 

I'm very pleased to see that Hillary Clinton has sufficient confidence to be pulling resources from more traditional swing states to states that used to be solid red.  Not only dies this force Republicans to use their resourses to defend places they considered safe, but also it brings a stronger Democratic message to people who will be voting in down-ballot races.  One such state is Arizona.

1018Hillary

Hillary Clinton’s campaign is planning its most ambitious push yet into traditionally right-leaning states, a new offensive aimed at extending her growing advantage over Donald J. Trump while bolstering down-ballot candidates in what party leaders increasingly suggest could be a sweeping victory for Democrats at every level.

Signaling extraordinary confidence in Mrs. Clinton’s electoral position and a new determination to deliver a punishing message to Mr. Trump and Republicans about his racially tinged campaign, her aides said Monday that she would aggressively compete in Arizona, a state with a growing Hispanic population that has been ground zero for the country’s heated debate over immigration.

Mrs. Clinton is “dramatically expanding” her efforts in Arizona, her campaign manager, Robby Mook, told reporters on Monday. She is pouring more than $2 million into advertising and dispatching perhaps her most potent surrogate, Michelle Obama, for a rally in Phoenix on Thursday.

In Indiana and Missouri, Mr. Mook said, the campaign will spend a total of $1 million to drive voter turnout, despite what he acknowledged was an “uphill battle” for Mrs. Clinton in two states that could determine control of the Senate. Mrs. Clinton is also directing more money to a series of presidential battleground states with competitive House races… [emphasis added]

From <NY Times>

Here is my own estimation of how the electoral map looks.  I'll make at least one more before the election

1018ElecMapTC

As I see it, Hillary has the needed 270 electoral votes, if she just wins the blue states, but a mere win is now enough.  We need a rout from White House to Dog Catcher nationwide.

Vote Blue!

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Open Thread – 10/18/2016

 Posted by at 1:35 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 182016
 

It’s another busy day with lots of chores, including preparing my grocery list for the week, paying bills and getting prescriptions refilled.  Are you going to watch the show tomorrow night?

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:31 (average 5:05).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football Report:

Here’s the news from our own fantasy football league, Lefty Blog Friends.

Scores:

6Scores

Patty Monster monster-mashed my poor kitty dingles!

Standings:

6Standings

Congrats to Vivian and Rob, who are leading the league.

Short Takes:

From Multnomah Democrats: Last Day to Register to Vote (Oregon)

Tuesday, October 18, 2016 (All day)

Event Sponsor:

Oregon Secretary of State

October 18th is the last day register to vote for the November 8th election. Registration cards postmarked by this date or online registrations submitted no later than 11:59 PM on this date are valid. Register or check your registration status here: http://sos.oregon.gov/voting-elections/Pages/my-vote.aspx

If you are an Oregonian and not yet registered click the link NOW. If you have committed a crime, Oregon still allows you to vote.

From YouTube (Real Time Channel): Ann Coulter: In Trump We Trust

Barf Bag Alert!!

 

Two things about the Coultergeist have not changed. It is still full of shit. It still has its Adam’s apple.

From The New Yorker: Trump’s suggestion that both Presidential candidates submit to a drug test has sparked fears that such a test would reveal that he is not on drugs.

In interviews conducted across the country, voters said that they would be “alarmed” and “distressed” to learn that the billionaire’s statements and actions were the product of a mind unaltered in any way by a controlled substance.

“It never occurred to me that Donald Trump might not be on drugs,” Carol Foyler, an accountant from Toledo, Ohio, said. “That would be terrifying.”

Harland Dorrinson, a mechanic from St. Petersburg, Florida, said that the chilling possibility of Trump not being on drugs was a strong argument against submitting the candidates to drug testing. “If it turns out that he isn’t on anything, this is something that the American people shouldn’t have to find out,” he said. “We’ve suffered enough this election.”

Andy has a great point. We’ve speculated what drug he might be on, but the possibility that he is the way he is, without benefit of addiction, is even more appalling!

From NY Times: Russia’s main English-language satellite network complained on Monday that its British bank was abruptly closing its accounts. The network, which reported on the decision, called it a British-government-sanctioned attempt to interfere with freedom of speech.

It was the latest controversy for the network, RT, originally and still commonly known as Russia Today. [Republicans delinked] The broadcaster presents itself as an alternative to the Western media, but critics call it a Kremlin-financed mouthpiece that seeks to create an alternative to reality.

Kudos to the Bank!  Putin’s propaganda network helped convince Bridiots that it was safe to cast a protest vote for Brexit.  Now they are telling Americans to cast a protest vote for Stein, because Putin wants to elect Trump.  Sadly, Jill Stein has colluded with their scheme in exchange for the majority of her TV coverage.

Cartoon:

1018Cartoon

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