Steve Kramer, a veteran political consultant working for a rival candidate, acknowledged Sunday that he commissioned the robocall that impersonated President Joe Biden using artificial intelligence, confirming an NBC News report that he was behind the call.
In a statement and interview with NBC News, Kramer expressed no remorse for creating the deepfake, in which an imitation of the president’s voice discouraged participation in New Hampshire’s Democratic presidential primary. The call launched several law enforcement investigations and provoked outcry from election officials and watchdogs.
A former Dean Phillips consultant, Kramer claims he commissioned the call as an act of civil disobedience to protest the threat of artificial intelligence to political campaigns. He compares himself to Paul Revere and Thomas Paine.
“This is a way for me to make a difference, and I have,” he said in the interview. “For $500, I got about $5 million worth of action, whether that be media attention or regulatory action.”
Plus possible jail time.
Kramer tested his tactic earlier with a voice clone of South Carolina’s Sen. Lindsey Graham.
The calls went to 300 South Carolina likely Republican primary voters. It was a poll that had Graham’s voice ask recipients whom they supported in the GOP primary. Kramer said the response rate from the familiar voice of Graham was four times higher than the response rate to an automated call.
Kramer cannot have anticipated the slaying of a University of Georgia student last week by an undocumented Venezuelan migrant migrant. Republicans in general and Donald “91 Counts” Trump, in particular, will have a field day hyping both stories to drive a narrative of cheating by Democrats and fecklessness on immigration. They’d do it anyway, but these events only help them.
In fact, it is the GOP that has been irresponsible by killing immigration reform legislation and enforcement funding. But people won’t know if the Biden administration does not get ahead of the immigration story and remind the public that the GOP stopped efforts to repair the immigration system to give themselves and Trump an issue to run on.
The Kramer robocall is on him.
And it’s not as if the GOP is not using AI robocalls. I received one while working an election protection shift recently during early voting for the March 5 primary. The voice was convincing:
The caller ID says ‘RNC’.
Robocall? Crank call? Threat?
Me: “Democratic Party Headquarters, can I help you?”
A woman’s voice says she’s with the RNC and asks for Cynthia.
[Pauses]
Me: “This is a county Democratic Party headquarters and there’s no Cynthia here.”
[3 sec. pause]
Her: “I understand, and I will get right to the point.” Launches into pitch for money to defend Donald Trump’s ballot access in Colorado. Would I contribute $25 today?
Me: “You do realize you’re talking to a volunteer manning a Democratic Party headquarters?
I’ve actually wondered why they haven’t done this bit before. It’s been sitting there waiting for them for years.
This was very timely, though. They even had the S. Carolina vote count in the sketch. But they missed Graham being booed and heckled at Trump’s victory party after which Trump called him up on stage to bask in the recriminations and hate. There is no limit to how much abuse these weirdos are willing to take.
Here’s Graham being chased through the airport after he tepidly condemned the January 6th insurrection. He’d rather grovel before these assholes than give up his seat in the Senate. It’s pathetic.
“Nobody can ramble like this. They’ll say: ‘He rambled, he’s cognitively impaired.’ Well, it’s really the opposite. It’s total genius – you know that.” — Donald Trump
That’s Trump’s latest bullshit, from his CPAC speech. The crowd went wild in ecstasy when he said it.
Trump’s Heinrich Himmler, Stephen Miller obviously wrote it. It was American Carnage on steroids. But it also featured Trump’s personal riffs like the one above. It was a nightmare and everyone should watch it.
“For hard-working Americans, November 5th will be our new liberation day,” Trump told a packed ballroom at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor in Maryland. “But for the liars and cheaters and fraudsters and censors and imposters who have commandeered our government, it will be their judgment day!”
“Your victory will be our ultimate vindication, your liberty will be our ultimate reward and the unprecedented success of the United States of America will be my ultimate and absolute revenge.”
The overwhelmingly white crowd, many wearing Make America Great Again regalia, rose to their feet and roared their approval.
He has been comparing himself to Jesus. Now he’s vengeful God himself.
The tone was set before he appeared on stage. A series of popular hits – Abba’s Dancing Queen, Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire, Sinéad O’Connor’s Nothing Compares 2 U, Elvis Presley’s Suspicious Minds – was followed by the tinny sound of Justice for All, a rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner sung by defendants jailed over their alleged roles in the January 6, 2021, insurrection. The CPAC audience rose solemnly for the dirge that was recorded over a prison phone line.
As usual, Trump entered to Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA, hugged an American flag and painted an impossibly grim picture of an America overrun by bloodshed, chaos and violent crime. “If Crooked Joe Biden and his thugs win in 2024, the worst is yet to come,” he said. “A country that will go and sink to levels that are unimaginable.
“These are the stakes of this election. Our country is being destroyed, and the only thing standing between you and it’s obliteration is me.” …
“A vote for Trump is your ticket back to freedom, it’s your passport out of tyranny and it’s your only escape from Joe Biden and his gang’s fast track to hell,” he continued.
“And in many ways, we’re living in hell right now because the fact is, Joe Biden is a threat to democracy – really is a threat to democracy.”
He is a martyr:
Speaking days after the death of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Trump hinted at a self-comparison by adding: “I stand before you today not only as your past and hopefully future president but as a proud political dissident. I am a dissident.”
The crowd whooped and applauded. Trump noted that he had been indicted more often than the gangster Al Capone on charges that he described as “bullshit”. The audience again leaped to their feet, some shaking their fists and chanting: “We love Trump! We love Trump!”
Trump argued without evidence: “The Stalinist show trials being carried out at Joe Biden’s orders set fire not only to our system of government but to hundreds of years of western legal tradition.
“They’ve replaced law, precedent and due process with a rabid mob of radical left Democrat partisans masquerading as judges and juries and prosecutors.”
It wouldn’t be a trump speech without some good old-fashioned xenophobia:
Trump also spent time on his signature issue: he said his “first and most urgent action” as president would be the “sealing of the border, stopping the invasion … send Joe Biden’s illegal aliens back home”.
“They’re coming from Asia, they’re coming from the Middle East, coming from all over the world, coming from Africa, and we’re not going to stand for it … They’re destroying our country.”
He promised to carry out the biggest deportation in American history. “It’s not a nice thing to say and I hate to say it and those clowns in the media will say: ‘Oh, he’s so mean.’ No, they’re killing our people. They’re killing our country. We have no choice.”
He added: “We have languages coming into our country … they have languages that nobody in this country has ever heard of. It’s a horrible thing.”
That’s what’s on offer in the Republican Party. And the media and the Democrats had better start reminding people who he is and let them know that he is even worse than before — and so are his followers.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like that. Did they not get what had just happened? Are they that slow? Or do they just not care and think robotically defending Donald Trump under any and all circumstances is normal.
I’m a little bit baffled by people able to smoothly deal with this kind of dissonance. It suggests something …. bad.
Republican primary voters in South Carolina said former President Donald Trump, 77, is more physically and mentally fit to be president than former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, 52.
Despite Trump’s 25 years on Haley, South Carolina GOP primary voters were more confident in Trump’s physical and mental fitness than hers. In CBS News’s exit polls, 72% believed Trump was healthy enough in both aspects to be president, with just 27% disagreeing. Haley fell short of Trump, with 60% saying she has the physical and mental faculties to be commander in chief.
Per ABC News, 71% said that Trump’s physical and mental health were satisfactory for a president, but just 59% said the same of Haley.
I would assume that Trump’s nickname for Haley, “Birdbrain” has taken hold among the faithful. Also she’s missing a penis, which automatically indicates lesser mental faculties with these people. Also, Trump shall have no other God before him.
More:
“Locked in my vote! I was like, ‘There we go! I’m voting for him!’”
Trump getting indicted for crimes made these Republican women in SC support him even more.
Q: Do you think it’s responsible for Joe Biden to be at the top of the ticket?
Gov. Gavin Newsom: Responsible? I revere his record. What he’s done in three years is a masterclass. Close to 15 million jobs is eight times more than the last three Republican presidents combined.
It’s because of his age that President Biden has been so successful. He has character and wisdom. We’ve seen his bipartisan approach result in the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS Act, border security solutions. What a gift to have that for four more years.
He’s not going anywhere and people need to get a grip and start making the positive case for his reelection instead of sitting around calling for the fainting couch like Aunt Pittypat.
A possible end for magical thinking about an ‘open convention.’
When it comes to the Democrats choosing a 2024 ticket other than Biden-Harris, I’ve long been in the “it’s too late” camp. The latest “not too late” time for Joe Biden to disclose that he planned to step aside would have been in the first half of last year.
At that point he would instantly have been transformed into a lame duck, on issues ranging from Ukraine to judicial appointments. You can easily imagine Mitch McConnell’s speech the very day after a Biden step-down announcement: “Next year, the American people will decide who should lead them in the future. We would do them a disservice by rushing to confirm any more nominees, or major policy changes, in this twilight period for a one-term president. Therefore… ”
Still, if Biden were going to do it, that was the time. Time enough for other candidates to make their decisions, assemble their staffs, raise their money. Time to try to protect the administration’s remaining plans—infrastructure investments, economic management—from being chewed up in the Democrat’s own primary-election struggles.
That didn’t happen. By last fall it was “too late” for any orderly Democratic alternative to Biden-Harris. But in these past few weeks, as I noted last time, the press has been abuzz with talk about Biden’s age and the possibilities of dumping him. The arguments mostly followed this two-step logic:
Step One: Sure, maybe Biden has been a good president. Perhaps a very good one. But his job now is to stay in office, and at that job he will be bad.
Step Two: Somebody else would be a better candidate! We don’t know who, but an “open convention” could be a good place to find out. (This is where the magical thinking begins.) So let’s talk more about dumping Biden, even though that will hurt him if he ends up as nominee, because the payoff will be getting somebody better.
I said a week ago that I we couldn’t be sure whether this sentiment would grow. This past week there was powerful pushback.⁴
To me the most significant and sweeping was a long opening segment by Lawrence O’Donnell this past Monday. It was deeply informed, and highly informative, about what the job of political leadership actually entails, and why those realities worked strongly against the “dump Biden” concept.
You can watch the whole thing below.
To summarize its main points:
Everyone who’d like to swap out Joe Biden thinks “some other” Democrat would do a better job. But they never say exactly who that other Democrat would be. That is because as soon as you name a specific person—Newsom, Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, JB Pritzker, Wes Moore, Gina Raimondo, Rafael Warnock, on down the long list—the flaws of that person become the issue. Also, when you name one person, the ten people you’re not naming will say, What about us? If you start out by skipping Kamala Harris, you have urgent additional explaining to do. If your argument is that Biden is “too weak,” where do you turn for evidence that others would be stronger? For instance: I am a fan of Gavin Newsom. But so far in hypothetical polls he has done worse against Trump than Biden has.
What about money? The $100 million+ that Joe Biden has raised so far has been raised for the Biden-Harris ticket. Legally it can be complicated to roll that over, to someone a wide-open convention might choose. So that new person would start out, in mid-summer, with a small rather than a bulging war chest, unless the person were Kamala Harris.
And what about experience? Almost none of these “better then Biden” people has ever run for national office. That process is surprisingly hard, and involves a lot of instructive bumps-and-bruises along the way. As Joe Biden knows, from the presidential races he lost in in 1988 and 2008. Kamala Harris knows it too, from having lost (to Joe Biden) in 2020. Some “better” candidate chosen at the convention would be set up for rookie season self-education, starting ten weeks before election day. You can already write the “Dems in disarray!” stories from the campaign trail.
Co-sign. It’s been too late for a very long time. Everyone needs to focus and they need to focus NOW.
The Never Trumpers held a rival CPAC called Principles First
My what a different rhetorical atmosphere:
.@judgeluttig: "Donald Trump has tested America's democracy, the Constitution, and the rule of law beyond the breaking point over the past four years…America's democracy and the rule of law have never been tested like this before." pic.twitter.com/6JwbzWbrtb
‘Welcome to the end of democracy. We are here to overthrow it completely. We didn’t get all the way there on January 6th, but we will endeavor to get rid of it’ — Jack Posobiec at CPAC on Feb 22.
When MAGA extremists tell you what they will do if they take power, believe them. pic.twitter.com/jaitZnkGsF
.@AsaHutchinson: “Congress particulary are falling in line behind Donald Trump. Rather than speaking, what I hope that they believe and understand is important, which is supporting our friends and allies and making sure that we continue to lead across the globe.” pic.twitter.com/ebFQ9qT0WS
.@BarbaraComstock: "The character of the leaders is so important…and having a demagogue like Trump is what the threat is and how he has cowered people to not care about character."
.@AstroTerry: “The most disappointing thing about Trump is not Trump it's that tens of millions of Americans think that he has the character and skill to be president.” pic.twitter.com/8CvP29XSYn
.@Alyssafarah: “They came forward to do the right thing when so many people three times their age saw the same thing and didn't say a damn thing about it. These are two incredibly brave woman and I am honored to be with you today.” pic.twitter.com/KCkvvVl0jc
Cassidy Hutchinson: “If the ticket is a binary choice between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, people need to understand at a very basic and very fundamental level, that there is one candidate on that ballot that will support our democracy…and that’s not Donald Trump.” pic.twitter.com/SQjty4BGqk
Standard Disclaimer: Many of these folks were miserable partisan character assassins during the Clinton and Obama administrations. I am aware, believe me. And I am fully in the “trust but verify” camp when it comes to them. But among them are some who have had a full reckoning with what they helped foment during those times and most of the others are, at least, dedicating themselves to the task of defeating Trump and the MAGA Movement as part of the popular front against fascism. We need them, whether we like it or not.
Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe
To no one’s surprise, Donald “91 Counts” Trump handily defeated former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley in her home state on Saturday. If there is any news there it is that Haley did not lose more badly than she did. The New York Times offers five takeaways from the day, the Washington Post only three.
The Post mentions an exit poll showing that “31 percent of voters said Trump wouldn’t be fit to serve as president if he’s convicted of a crime. South Carolina becomes the third early state to show that at least 3 in 10 voters said a convicted Trump wouldn’t be fit.” But that doesn’t mean they won’t vote for him anyway.
“Today is not the end of our story,” Haley told supporters.
“I know 40 percent is not 50 percent, but I also know 40 percent is not some tiny group. There are huge numbers of voters in our Republican primaries who are saying they want an alternative.”
Where have I heard that before?
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Milton Friedman wrote in his 1982 preface to “Capitalism and Freedom” that “Only a crisis—actual or perceived––produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. . . .” Nikki Haley hopes to be lying around when the GOP finds its nominee convicted and facing jail. It is her only path forward. The original Lost Cause has its origins in South Carolina as well.
What strikes me is the parallel magical thinking on the Democratic side. Digby wrote last week (agreeing with Josh Marshall), “The brouhaha over Ezra Klein’s article agitating for Biden to drop out at this late date has been overwhelming and it’s not helpful. The idea of choosing a new candidate at the conventions is downright fanciful. Not gonna happen.”
But on this point, Haley and her supporters are thinking along the same lines as Klein and his. Klein’s article promotes yet another Lost Cause.
A 2016 Bernie Sanders delegate urged me last week to run as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention for just that reason. Yes, the chances of an open convention are extremely remote, but should it happen, he wanted me there. Stranger things have happened. He won a term as a DNC member in 2012 in the wake of a State Executive Committee meeting descending into chaos.
I thought I’d play a little “catch-up” and spotlight some noteworthy Blu-ray reissues that have been released within the past 6 months. With one exception (noted below), all of the discs are Region ‘A’.
American Pop (Columbia/Sony) – Within the realm of animated films, Ralph Bakshi’s name may not be as universally recognizable (or revered) as Walt Disney or Studio Ghibli, but I would consider him no less of an important figure in the history of the genre. During his heyday (1972-1983) the director pumped out 8 full-length feature films (Fritz the Cat, Heavy Traffic, Wizards, et. al.) using his signature blend of live-action, rotoscoping, and traditional cel animation.
In his 1981 film American Pop, director Bakshi and screenwriter Ronni Kern ambitiously attempt to distill the history of 20th Century American popular music (essentially from Vaudeville to Punk) in 90 minutes. The narrative is framed via the triumphs and travails of four generations of a Russian-Jewish immigrant family (all of whom are involved one way or the other in the music business). Intelligently written, beautifully animated, with an eclectic soundtrack (everything from “Swanee” to “Pretty Vacant”).
Columbia/Sony’s release is bare bones; no commentary tracks or extra features. The transfer, while a definite improvement over my 2009 Columbia DVD edition, does not appear to be a “restored” print (the “mastered in high definition” notation on the back of the keep case is a tell). The 2.0 DTS-HD MA audio track is adequately robust for this engaging musical-drama.
The Day of the Locust (Arrow Video) – Equal parts backstage drama, character study, and psychological horror, John Schlesinger’s 1975 drama (with a Waldo Salt screenplay adapted from the eponymous novel by Nathaneal West) is the most unsettling Hollywood dream-turned nightmare this side of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.
Set in 1930s Los Angeles, the story revolves around a Hollywood newbie (William Atherton) who works in the art department of a major movie studio. He rents a cheap apartment housed in a complex chockablock with eccentric tenants, including an aspiring starlet (Karen Black) who lives with her ailing father (Burgess Meredith), a former vaudevillian who wheezes his way up and down hilly streets eking out a living as a door-to-door snake oil salesman.
The young artist becomes hopelessly infatuated with the starlet, but it quickly becomes apparent that, while she’s friendly toward him, it’s strictly a one-sided romance. Nonetheless, he continues to get drawn into her orbit-a scenario that becomes increasingly twisted, especially once she impulsively marries a well-to-do but socially inept and sexually repressed accountant (Donald Sutherland). It all culminates in a Grand Guignol finale you may find hard to shake off.
A gauzy, sun-bleached vision of a city (shot by ace cinematographer Conrad Hall) that attracts those yearning to connect with someone, something, or anything that assures a non-corporeal form of immortality; a city that teases endless possibilities, yet so often pays out with little more than broken dreams.
Arrow has done a bang-up job with this edition, which features a gorgeous 2K remaster from the original negative and a plethora of extras (new commentary track, several visual essays, and more).
Gothic(BFI; Region ‘B’) – OK, full disclosure. In my 2012 review of Guy Maddin’s Keyhole, I wrote:
[Keyhole is} Reminiscent of Ken Russell’s Gothic, another metaphorical long day’s journey into night via the labyrinth of an old dark house. And, like Russell’s film, Maddin’s is visually intoxicating, but ultimately undermined by an overdose of art house pretension and self-indulgent excess.
One might read that and glean that I was underwhelmed by Ken Russell’s 1987 drama. At the time, perhaps I was. But I reserve the right to occasionally change my appraisal of a film…especially when it comes to certain filmmakers like, well, Ken Russell for instance (David Lynch comes to mind as well). Sometimes, you are not in the “right” receptive mood for a specific filmmaker’s uh, aesthetic. Upon a repeat viewing or two, some films will sort of…grow on you.
At any rate, this “metaphorical long day’s journey into night via the labyrinth of an old dark house” has grown on me; particularly as a fascinating treatise on one of life’s greatest mysteries: where does creativity come from? In this case, what “inspired” Mary Shelley (Natasha Richardson) to create her classic novel Frankenstein?
Russell’s speculative history tale suggests that “the Creature” was born during the course of a wild weekend at the country estate of Lord Byron (Gabriel Byrne). Byron invites Mary Shelly and her famous poet husband Percy (Julian Sands) for a sleepover that turns into a druggy, debauched night of “horror” (whether real or imagined is left up to the viewer). Kinetic performances all round from a cast that includes Timothy Spall and Myriam Syr. Stephen Volk wrote the screenplay; the music is by Thomas Dolby. There was added poignancy to my recent viewing, in light of Julian Sands’ tragic passing last year (Natasha Richardson also left us much too soon).
BFI has assembled an extensive package, starting with a sparkling transfer that nicely highlights DP Mike Southon’s vivid photography and Michael Buchanan’s lush art direction (his resume includes Orlando and The Krays). There’s a heap of extras, including a full-length 83-minute 2002 video work by the director called The Fall of the Louse of Usher (starring Russell and his wife Lisi) and a rare 27-minute Russell short from 1957 called Amelia and the Angel.
(Note: This is a Region ‘B’ disc, requiring an all-region player).
He Walked by Night(KL Studio Classics) – This tight 1948 police procedural from Alfred L. Werker (with uncredited co-direction by noir stalwart Anthony Mann) was based on a case taken directly from the LAPD’s files. Richard Basehart stars as a psychopathic serial thief-turned cop killer who utilizes his expertise with electronics to repeatedly elude capture by law enforcement.
One of the earliest noirs to take a semi-documentary approach in order to inject an air of realism to the story. Jack Webb (who plays the police department’s electronics expert in the film) was obviously taking notes, as that became the model for his future Dragnet TV series.
It’s also one of the first crime thrillers I’m aware of that plays to the gear heads in the audience; there’s lots of demonstrative tinkering with (then) state of the art electronic equipment (I see it as presaging TheConversation in this regard).
While the story is absorbing, the real star of this film is its cinematographer, the great John Alton. There are a number of stunning visual set pieces; particularly a climactic pursuit through L.A.’s underground tunnel system (it’s worth noting that this film was released a year before The Third Man).
Alton’s photography really pops in Kino Lorber’s absolutely gorgeous Blu-ray transfer, which is taken from a 16bit 4K scan of the 35mm fine grain. Extras include a new commentary track by film historian Imogen Sara Smith, and audio commentary by author/film historian Alan K. Rode and writer/film historian Julie Kirgo. This one is a must-have for noir aficionados.
Here’s a NYT gift link to a thorough deconstruction of the “confidential informant” (dare I say) hoax with which the GOP planned to impeach Biden. Read it all if you have the time. An excerpt:
In May 2023, Senator Charles E. Grassley, a chief antagonist of President Biden, strode to the Senate floor with some shocking news: He had learned, he said, of a document in the F.B.I.’s possession that could reveal “a criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden.”
Mr. Grassley, an Iowa Republican, suggested to any Americans listening that there was a single document that could confirm the most sensational corruption allegations against Mr. Biden — and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was engaging in a coverup.
“Did they sweep it under the rug to protect the candidate Biden?” he asked conspiratorially.
Over the next few months, Mr. Grassley’s quest to make public the allegation — laid out in an obscure document known as an F.B.I. Form 1023 — became a fixation, and a foundation of the growing Republican push to impeach Mr. Biden as payback for Democrats’ treatment of former President Donald J. Trump.
At the center of it all was the unsubstantiated accusation that Mr. Biden had taken a $5 million bribe from the executive of a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma.
But what neither Mr. Grassley nor any of the other Republicans who amplified the claims said in their breathless statements was that F.B.I. officials had warned them repeatedly to be cautious about the accusation, because it was uncorroborated and its credibility unknown.
All that the form proved, federal law enforcement officials explained, was that a confidential source had said something, and they had written it down. And now federal prosecutors say the claim was made up.
But the cautions Republicans received from the start about the materials did not stop them from repeating the unverified allegation hundreds of times over many months, in official settings and interviews on right-wing media outlets.
Read the whole thing. They knew it was bogus. They did not care.
People have been warning about Russian influence on the GOP since 2015. Trump’s weird affinity for Vladimir Putin exacerbated all the suspicions. This has now become so obvious that you’s have be brain damaged not to admit it and see that it is detrimental to the United States. This is just the latest revelation that points toward the Republican Party being so Trump-addled that they are literally selling out the country for their Dear Leader.
