Whether Good Or Bad, Trump Will Keep Himself On The Front Page
[guest post by Dana]
This man is clearly a believer in the old adage that there is no such thing as bad publicity.
At the GOP debate on Thursday, Donald Trump didn’t take kindly to Megyn Kelly’s first question put to him (relevant portion):
KELLY: Mr. Trump, one of the things people love about you is you speak your mind and you don’t use a politician’s filter. However, that is not without its downsides, in particular, when it comes to women.
You’ve called women you don’t like “fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals.”
Your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women’s looks. You once told a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president, and how will you answer the charge from Hillary Clinton, who was likely to be the Democratic nominee, that you are part of the war on women?
Trump responded that his comments were meant in “fun” and that neither he nor the country had time for “political correctness”, and then essentially told Kelly that it was too bad, so sad if she didn’t like his comments.
Last night, Trump went even further during an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon. He said Kelly was “highly overrated” and that her questions were “ridiculous” and “off base”. And then he actually said:
There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her… wherever.
As a result of Trump’s comments, Erick Erickson at Red State, who claims to personally like Trump, disinvited him to the influential RedState Gathering this weekend:
I have tried to give a great deal of latitude to Donald Trump in his run for the Presidency.
He is not a professional politician and is known for being a blunt talker. He connects with so much of the anger in the Republican base and is not afraid to be outspoken on a lot of issues. But there are even lines blunt talkers and unprofessional politicians should not cross.
Decency is one of those lines.
Erickson went on to say “It was not the “blood coming out of her eyes” part that was the problem”:
I think there is no way to otherwise interpret Mr. Trump’s comment. In an attempted clarification, Mr. Trump’s team tells me he meant “whatever”, not “where ever.”
He concluded his statement with:
I’ve been very sympathetic to Donald Trump because so many of the people who have led the party astray refuse to even treat him as a legitimate candidate.
But I also think that while Mr. Trump resonates with a lot of people with his bluntness, including me to a degree, there are just real lines of decency a person running for President should not cross.
His comment was inappropriate. It is unfortunate to have to disinvite him. But I just don’t want someone on stage who gets a hostile question from a lady and his first inclination is to imply it was hormonal. It just was wrong.
I have invited Megyn Kelly to attend in Donald Trump’s place tomorrow night.
Trump clarified his comment about Kelly, claiming that he meant:
“‘blood coming out of her eyes and whatever,’ meaning nose.”
He added: “Only a deviant would think anything else.”
The next round of polling numbers will be telling. While there is a petition circulating (nearly 10,000 signatures) to have Megyn Kelly banned from moderating any more GOP debates, some fellow GOP candidates have blasted Trump for this latest round of inappropriate comments.
Trump clearly thinks that being a candidate for the highest office in the land is the same as being the boss of one’s own “empire”.
And just a small observation: As it seems to go with a certain type of man who has great power and wealth, and an even greater ego, Trump simply cannot resist the compulsion to continually try to convince everyone else of his self-importance. Woe to those who don’t buy into it. It’s a rather pedestrian insecurity that betrays the exterior image of the all-powerful, brash braggadocio who doesn’t care what anyone thinks about him. Yet, given enough time, these sorts eventually hang themselves by a self-made rope of childish insecurity and insatiable ego.
–Dana
Hello.
Dana (86e864) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:01 amHe mixed up his metaphors (if he even knows what a metaphor is). He meant to say “she came out with blood in her eye”, meaning looking for a fight, is my guess.
He’s an idiot.
nk (dbc370) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:10 amKeep telling yourself this.
Meanwhile his popularity will grow. Because you don’t understand what it
jakee308 (c37f85) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:13 amsignifies.
Other candidates need to see the traction trump is getting being forthright and saying some things people are afraid to say,
but in the end Trump is too into it for Trump.
That said, I heard on some radio show the context for those quotes from Trump which put them in more reasonable light. I have lost what was left of my respect for Kelly and Fox.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:14 amThough I think I will still watch Greta if she’s on the TV in front of me. Home town girl and all.
she did a bad job
happyfeet (831175) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:15 amThe GOP did amazingly well in 2014 by running a diverse group of smart, kind candidates. The face of the party was that of talented people who are newcomers to Washington, hail from a variety of backgrounds, and are all warm, genuine, tactful people.
The Left fawned all over Wendy Davis, who ditched her husband the day after he paid off her student loans – Wendy Davis, who mocked her wheelchair-ridden opponent. Texas turned redder than it was before.
Who on earth looks at that and thinks that Donald Trump should be the face of the GOP? Let’s nominate a formerly bankrupt blowhard who makes fun of women for menstruating!
What?
bridget (37b281) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:16 amErick Erickson is a well documented jerk so Trump essentially wins another round. But in any case once again we see the pernicious effects of political correctness. Erickson himself got in trouble with the PC police just a couple years ago when he referred to Wendy Davis as “Abortion Barby” and now he has the stunning audacity to utter the line “I just don’t want someone on stage who gets a hostile question from a lady and his first inclination is to imply it was hormonal.”
And for those of you who think it was just horrible for Trump to allegedly bring up female hormones (which we all know have absolutely no effect on how women behave, none, zero, zilch) notice how Dana casually tosses off this line: “As it seems to go with a certain type of man who has great power and wealth, and an even greater ego, Trump simply cannot resist the compulsion to continually try to convince everyone else of his self-importance.”
Notice that apparently only a “man” ever behaves badly in this way. Its totally a man thing.
Right.
Mark Johnson (a64489) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:16 amSure, I do. I read Huckleberry about forty-five years ago: “Hain’t we got all the fools in town on our side? And ain’t that a big enough majority in any town?”
nk (dbc370) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:16 amNews flash: he’s vulgar.
Now Megyn has to decide if she’s a grownup journalist or a little girl.
Patricia (5fc097) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:20 amMark Johnson,
Notice how I said “a certain type of man”?
Dana (86e864) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:23 amHaving gotten by on good looks and a winning personality myself all my life, I always had Megyn’s measure. She is eye candy and not much more. As for Fox, they’re only incidentally on your side.
nk (dbc370) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:23 amnk, Megyn Kelly was on Law Review, graduated with honours, and worked at Jones Day for nine years.
How is that getting by on looks? Sounds like a lot of hard work to me.
bridget (37b281) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:33 am😉
nk (dbc370) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:38 amGlenn beck says it will make blood shoot out of your eyes just about every day. Or he did back when I listened to him. This whole menstruation thing is just madness and Greg Gutfield done lost his tiny little corporate mind over this. I think Trump is going to rip this country apart and I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. Course needs to be corrected.
Gazzer (f205c8) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:46 amDana,
You wrote “man” not “person” but “man”.
That is singling out the male sex for admonishment and leaving the female sex free of same.
Of course by the PC Code of what you wrote is fine but if a man had written the identical sentence except substituted “woman” for “man” he would be dis-invited from the Red State Party which as we all know is a fate worse than death.
Mark Johnson (a64489) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:50 amI can’t imagine there’s that many people that didn’t previously find trump objectionable (“Mexicans are rapists”) that are now going to do so. Ladies and gentlemen: the leading Republican presidential candidate. How did we get here?
Alonzo (ffa41a) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:53 amI’m just thinking of the “Trump to split the GOP for Hillary” line of reasoning.
Attacking the leading national newscaster with after the fact well thought trough vulgarity on account of her being a woman.
Q Why would you do that unless you were trying to split the party with identity politics, right in the wedge Team Clinton has already spent the better part of forever chopping at?
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:53 amOf course the obvious is, if Trump can’t handle provocative questions from a GOP moderator, how on earth will he be able to stand the endless criticisms and attacks that inevitably come when one is the president? He will be personally attacked, his wife, his children and everyone he cares about will be attacked, smeared, denigrated and blamed. What then? He will spend so much time reacting personally, he won’t have time to pay attention to the country.
That he didn’t plan on being in the hot seat at the debate is very telling. He has willfully made sure his name is in the news 24/7 with his bombastic remarks and unfiltered comments and aggressive tactics – do you think he would have tolerated being ignored??
Further, this to me demonstrated his utter lack of political savvy: When Megyn Kelly used the Democratic meme of the “war on women” in her questioning, why didn’t he POLITELY shut her down right then and there, telling her he would like to explain what she meant by the “war on women” given that there were currently two women running for POTUS, as well as Kelly herself being one of the best known television anchors with her own show, and moderating the first GOP debates. He could have then cited where he pays women in his “empire” equal wages to men, maternity care leave, equal promotional opportunities, blah, blah. He should have politely rejected the premise of her question and explained why. Instead, he went straight the snide, rude and poor me routine.
The questioning may have seemed unfair, he may have been singled out, but his response was not what one wants to see in a presidential candidate, let alone a president.
Dana (86e864) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:53 amMark Johnson,
I wrote “man” because Trump is a “man”. I didn’t plan on there being any confusion with this…
Women in power don’t tend to react in the same way to their insatiable egos. It’s much more cunning, underhanded and devious.
Dana (86e864) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:55 amJust on the basis of this, it would not surprise me if Megyn is the SOLE moderator at the next Fox debate.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:02 amhe’s a Class “”A” sh*t disturber, for sure.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:03 amMeanwhile his popularity will grow. Because you don’t understand what it signifies.
That there are more fu**wits in the country than I thought?
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:03 ampapertiger
I’m thinking we raise some money and run Sanders as an independent.
EPWJ (292641) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:07 amTrump/Akin for the win!
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:11 amThere are Trump supporters who would defend him if he quite literally dropped his pants and sh*t on the debate stage. “The country needs a good shake-up,” they’d insist, “He’s just showing his contempt for the status quo.”
Is there no line he can cross, no act of crass stupidity or racism or sexism that his supporters won’t defend as a “healthy, needed challenge to political correctness”?
Not all “correctness” is “political correctness.” Some things, and some people, are vulgar and stupid and greedy, and the fact that they’re shocking is a bug, not a feature.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:12 amTrump clearly thinks that being a candidate for the highest office in the land is the same as being the boss of one’s own “empire”.
Shorter: Augustus.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:13 amCan you hurry, can you debate?
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:14 amCan you hurry, can you debate?
C’mon, c’mon and
Hurry down to a Megyn sole debate
Hurry down to a Megyn sole debate
There’ll be lots of time and Trump will whine
Red, yellow, honey, sassy looks and monkeyshines
Red, yellow, honey, sassy looks and monkeyshines
Stoned sole
(Stoned sole)
C’mon, c’mon and
Hurry down to a Megyn sole debate
Hurry down to a Megyn sole debate
Trump says somethin’ stupid again
And from the sky come the Lord and the lightning
And from the sky come the Lord and the lightning
Stoned sole
(Oh stoned soul)
Hurry on, sole
Hurry… hurry!… hurry… hurry!
“That there are more fu**wits in the country than I thought?”
All that effort spent whining about RINOs is now having its expected payoff.
Alonzo (ffa41a) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:14 amI’ve been a Megyn Kelly fan for years but her performance and that of Chris Wallace was anything but fair or balanced. Right from the start they were out to get Trump, they were unfair to other candidates as well, but Trump was clearly their target.
In the few days leading up to the debate Kelly, on her TV show, bragged about the questions they’d put together enticing viewers with sly expectations of a titillating experience. Right from the start the in-your-face adversarial agenda was clear. The questions were pure “gotcha.” Even MSNBC moderators wouldn’t have been so calculatingly harsh for fear of overdoing it and losing even more their diminishing audience.
FOX didn’t present a debate, so much as a public flogging.
ropelight (6272a0) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:16 amIf you think that the separation of powers is important, if you think that America has had enough division, if you think that wild abuse of executive agencies needs to end (and be prosecuted), if you think that the federal government needs a severe downsizing and re-org, in a matter to last for a generation, if you think that entitlements need the same careful attention…
How the F do you think that Trump is the person to do it? Lex Luthor would be a better choice.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:18 amIt reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where George gets inexplicably hired for a job he isn’t qualified for, and on the ride down in the elevator can’t control himself from fondling the boss because she has a nice sweater.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:20 amAll that effort spent whining about RINOs is now having its expected payoff.
And the only Republican-in-Name-Only on that stage — the one who refused to support the eventual REPUBLICAN nominee and deny that he would oppose, or run against, the GOP.
And without a hint of irony.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:21 amMrs. Costanza: Who goes around feeling people’s material? What can be gained feeling a person’s material? It’s insanity!
Mr. Costanza: What ever happened to “Why, that’s a lovely dress you have on. May I have this dance?”!!
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:25 amIt’s funny. When Trump says “pretty picture” we’re all supposed to have the pornographic image that Megyn Kelly thinks about when she hears “dropped on her knees”. When Trump mixes up a metaphor and then says “where ever”, we’re all supposed to have the thought of blood rushing out of Megyn Kelly’s vagina.
But when Megyn Kelly calls Mike Huckabee Mike Fuckabee, we are all supposed to imagine that she just perfectly innocently got her h’s and f’s mixed up and made the f sound instead of the h sound because that happens all the time!
See how it works?
J Curtis (3d47e8) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:28 amOf course the obvious is, if Trump can’t handle provocative questions from a GOP moderator, how on earth will he be able to stand the endless criticisms and attacks that inevitably come when one is the president?
Questioning whether Trump is too thin-skinned would be the only legitimate reason to be wary of him, as far as I’m concerned. But not because of the non-PC particulars of his comments to Don Lemon. IOW, if the “blood coming out…” part is getting everyone’s panties in a wade (yes, a non-PC metaphor), oh, brother.
My biggest concern about Republicans like Trump ultimately is they will be or are too squish-squish squishy. Which is why perhaps the other most well-known last name in the bunch of Republican candidates (ie, Bush) needs to go bye-bye.
Mark (ecf4fd) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:34 amVote for the manatee.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xVzo3ifvx8
The SOTU speech will be reduced to less than a minute, and it will be worth watching.
Nothing will be said, which will be a relief.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:36 amOK, if you’re a Democrat do what you always do. Vote for the reptile.
But just this once make it the sea turtle instead of Pelosi, Boxer, Reid, et al.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:37 amThat there are more fu**wits in the country than I thought?
Considering the person occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue since 2009, isn’t that a given?
Mark (ecf4fd) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:38 amMark, how about his commenting to Don Lemon? ON a Clinton news affiliate? If that doesn’t raise a red flag on the guy’s judgement, unless the guy is a certified head case, the other explanation is firming up.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:45 amThe guy is a certifiable head case. But appears to have a good head for business deals.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:53 amI like that Ted Cruz remains above the fray in spite of the media being more than happy to give him all the airtime/print space he wants to blast Trump:
Dana (86e864) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:59 amhttp://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=358353
More on lions.
I shot my elephant. But as I said it was just a matter of making meat. Turning stolen corn into food for the farmers. I don’t see myself killing more members of the Big Five. Or whatever. I could see myself shooting a lion or a leopard but I don’t see me going out of the way to do so.
I’m happy with my ducks and my deer and my hawgs however much that may confound those amateurs psychoanalyzing me and my sexual inadequacies.
Apparently I shot my elephant because I don’t date Brazilian lingerie models. Whatevs.
When you distil it, though, the truth at the bottom of the barrel is always the same. The animal has to be worth something to the people who have to live with it.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 12:08 pmI watched the “undercard” debate Thursday night within a couple of hours after it was done, but it wasn’t until this morning that I had the chance to watch the top-10.
Re the performance of the Fox News commentators:
They were indeed adversarial — they asked a lot of tough questions, and it’s fair to characterize quite a few of them as “gotcha” questions.
But they asked everyone tough questions (with the possible exception of Ben Carson). I approve of that: The questions aren’t going to be softballs when it’s time for a Hillary versus Whomever debate, are they?
The difference is: Trump was the easiest target, and the questions they asked him had no good answers. Trump tried very hard to dodge some of them. But I thought both Wallace & Kelly exposed his buffoonery in a very professional manner; and I particularly relished seeing the Donald squirm and bluster in response to Wallace’s question regarding the Trump companies’ string of serial bankruptcies. Trump’s best defense?
In that particular bankruptcy, the secured lenders — controlled by Carl Icahn — came out relatively well, taking over the business and all its tax benefits after using the bankruptcy code to shed all its worst contracts and obligations. The unsecured creditors got less than $0.01 on the dollar. So who are those unsecured creditors? Basically everyone to whom Trump’s company owed money when it went under, except for Icahn. Here’s the bankruptcy petition; the list of the 30 largest unsecured creditors begins at page 7. At the top of the list, owed $3M, was the electric utility. You think that hit might have affected the rates of any sweet, nice people? Then there’s a long, long list of trade debts and service creditors, including Otis Elevator, Sysco Foods, Atlantic City Linen Supply, Asian Supermarket II, Atlantic City Coca-Cola. Do you think other consumers and businesses enjoyed the hit they took when these companies had to raise prices to make up for these lost millions?
Other Americans paid for every one of Donald Trump’s companies’ many, many bankruptcies. TANSTAAFL, baby. Trump is a con man, and one of his cons is convincing honest people to do business with him on the assumption that he’s honest and capable.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/8/2015 @ 12:23 pmHey, Beldar… he “just took advantage” of our nation’s laws…
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:10 pmI thought Democrats are the PC police who chill speech and sit in judgement on everyone else. Republicans said they wanted to be the Party with the big tent. Apparently not.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:13 pmI actually know how to spell judgment but, oddly enough, my tablet doesn’t.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:14 pmIt’s early, but is there enough air?
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:16 pmI also think Erickson made a mistake in revoking Trump’s invitation. Journalists don’t need Republicans to protect them from the things politicians say, even if they are rude or vulgar.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:19 pmDRJ (#45), I thought maybe you were posting from the U.K. That’s one of my pet peeves too; I remember on my first day of law school when my torts prof, in giving us a very useful thumbnail understanding of how lawsuits actually proceed, pointed out that if you’re asking the court to grant one in favor of your client, you ought to write the word “judgment” like an American lawyer. But my biggest pet peeve is the people who confuse and conflate “disinterested” and “uninterested”: If you are in court, you want a judge who’s both disinterested (fair) and interested (paying attention), not uninterested (bored).
Was your comment about “PC police” (#44) directed at anyone in particular?
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:22 pmTrump’s Chief Campaign Strategist just quit. that’s… yuuuuuge.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:23 pmBut appears to have a good head for business deals.
I will make you a bet that 99% of the work done on any deal, including the work necessary so that the toupee-buy doesn’t eff it up, is done by professional businesspeople in his employ. The man is where he is because daddy started him off with many millions.
He’s had 4 major bankruptcies, which is no more an indication of a “good head for business” than being on welfare is an indication of self-reliance.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:23 pm*toupee-guy
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:25 pmAlthough sometimes I think he got a sports-score book from the future.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:31 pm“I thought Democrats are the PC police who chill speech and sit in judgement on everyone else. Republicans said they wanted to be the Party with the big tent. Apparently not.”
One of the gifts of PC-dom is it’s given some people the idea that their tastelessness is ideologically excused, because they are under the mistaken impression that have any taste is, well, PC.
Alonzo (ffa41a) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:32 pmMark, how about his commenting to Don Lemon?
Trump probably is too ideologically untethered or unformed for my tastes, but that appears to be a problem with many of the Republican candidates. All of them avoid mentioning the words “liberal” and “conservative,” not to mention “moderate,” and if a politician isn’t always conscious of the differences among such groups, and their conflicting biases — and the required strategies thereof — I have less confidence in him or her.
The one prominent Republican who I suspect will have less of a chance than Trump in winning the election next November is Jeb Bush, along with, of course, even squishier people like Chris Christie. Some of the biggest detractors of Trump (eg, the clique at Fox News) are reportedly big boosters of Bush, which I think speaks for itself.
Mark (ecf4fd) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:33 pmCompared to how many successes, Kevin M?
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:35 pmI would like to see Megyn Kelly decline Erickson’s invitation, telling him: Journalists don’t need Republicans to protect them from the things politicians say, even if they are rude or vulgar.
That would make the point to both her critics and Republican candidates, and she would come out the bigger person and the professional. Further, it would deflate the Republicans war on women meme that the Dems are jumping building on with this latest Trump gaffe. But most importantly, it would demonstrate to the MSM the mettle Fox News is made of and set the example for them.
She would, by saying this, quash the kerfuffle and get back to more substantive issues.
Dana (86e864) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:39 pmUgh, that was poorly worded on my part, but never the less, I think Megyn Kelly has a great opportunity here.
Dana (86e864) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:41 pmCol. H, can we agree that someone with a good head for business deals ought not be most famous in the business community for the number of bankruptcies his companies have gone through, and how close he himself — despite being born rich — came to personal bankruptcy?
He’s good at one thing — promoting Donald Trump. Even on that score, he wildly exaggerates (e.g., his inflated self-estimates of his net worth). He’s getting TONS of free publicity, and he’s of the school which believes that all publicity is good publicity. Whoever the next President is — and it won’t be him, although I genuinely fear he’ll put Hillary back in the White House — Trump is banking on the revenues (psychic and financial) from this ploy to more than make up for its losses (cancellations of his reality TV show, cancellations of TV coverage of his beauty pageant, corporate sponsors who are fleeing his vicinity). And he’s probably right about that because he can fool enough of the people all of the time.
By the way, I just took him up on his challenge to Chris Wallace that we could scan the front page of the business section of any business journal — I looked at today’s WSJ-online business section. The only individual I see mentioned there that’s been on the brink of bankruptcy, or whose companies have gone through bankruptcy, is Donald Trump.
So no, I will never agree that he has a “good head for business deals.” He’s a successful con artist; that’s all I’ll grant him. And that’s not the same thing as being a successful businessman.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:42 pmBeldar, I haven’t read the comments so my comments aren’t directed at anyone here. I may be repeating what others have already said, but I felt like saying it anyway. I know we’re conservative and part of that means being circumspect in what we say and do. I like that approach in my daily life but I don’t think that has served us well in national politics.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:42 pmI find that to be a ridiculous and narrow minded statement, Kevin M. Does a lawyer win every case or a doctor cure every patient? I was in the restaurant business for 40 years and owned 17 restaurants. Two went bankrupt. That’s 15 winners and two losers. I think it’s a respectable score. When a person has the type and volume of a career as Trump an few losers are to be expected.
Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie (f4eb27) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:43 pmOh my, Ipad corrected my “nevertheless”!
Dana (86e864) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:43 pmCol. H, you ask (#55), “Compared to how many successes?”
Trump’s mode of business has been to cross-collateralize most of his corporate entities on each other’s corporate debt. So when he says “four bankruptcies,” what he means is four waves of bankruptcies involving many, many dozens of companies each time. Look, for example, at the companies listed on page 5 of the .pdf file I linked above (internal numbering from PACER is page 4), which lists seven different companies as part of the consolidated bankruptcy filing of Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc.
His successes are extraordinarily modest. He’s exactly as successful a businessman as Paris Hilton is successful as a fashion model and dramatic actress. That is, they’re both famous for being famous.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:50 pmlol
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:53 pmMy guess is we’ll hear Trump talk about famous people who have filed or gone bankrupt. I don’t care for a President who thinks bankruptcy is no big deal, but Republicans should learn from the fact that Trump never gives up.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:55 pmCarnival barker or clown? You decide.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:55 pmBy “never gives up,” I’m talking about Trump’s approach to politics, not business.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:57 pmNot a Donald fan.
Megyn was baiting and she is a Liberal. Juss saying.
Rodney King's Spirit (9225a4) — 8/8/2015 @ 1:59 pmI know we’re conservative and part of that means being circumspect in what we say and do. I like that approach in my daily life but I don’t think that has served us well in national politics.
Exactly. I think the shh-shh-don’t-be-rude approach to controversies — a mindset that’s beloved among the hoity-toity cocktail-circuit elite of Eastern Seaboard Republicans, etc — has gone too far, inculcating even more of the current lunacy of political correctness gone off the deep end.
In general terms, there are plenty of big-mouthed, loud-mouthed, “no justice, no peace!” types (including individuals and organizations) on the left — helping enforce the MO of political correctness — far less of that on the right.
Mark (ecf4fd) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:00 pmI don’t know about all that, but I know what I like… http://youtu.be/29-xxM7FrjM
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:01 pmHoagie, if you had 17 restaurants and only 2 went under, that’s remarkable: Business failures in that industry are indeed very common, and they don’t indicate that the owners of those bankrupt entities were necessarily, or even probably, stupid or corrupt or evil or preying on the American taxpayer.
But if you’d taken, say, 14 of your 17 restaurants through bankruptcy four times, can we agree that’s uncommon? Because that would be the roughly appropriate comparison.
Trump has gotten somewhat smarter over the years — or actually, he’s hired somewhat better lawyers. He stopped personally guaranteeing his companies’ debt, so after his first very-near-miss with personal bankruptcy he’s just been rinsing and repeating using other people’s money. He’s tried to cut down on the cross-collateralization, meaning his entire “empire” is no longer at risk if one segment of it goes under.
But the big change in his business — since he became a reality TV star — has been that he’s very rarely now a majority principal, even through corporate subsidiaries and affiliates. Mostly he’s making money by licensing his name. That’s the one asset he’s genuinely good at promoting. And that’s what he’s counting on this political campaign to enhance.
Forbes and tons of other business journals have taken close, hard looks at his “empire.” The notion that he’s on a par with, say, Warren Buffett is preposterous. He’s much closer to Bernie Madoff.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:02 pm#68 What u said.
Rodney King's Spirit (9225a4) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:02 pmwhy is all the attention on kelley when wallace was as bad, if not worse? the rolling of his eyes and the heaving of a huge sigh before being ‘forced’ to even ask a question of trump, then his baiting the other candidates to attack trump and the exasperation written all over his face when the candidates, to their credit, refused to take the bait were unprofessional to say the least.
el polacko (39e73e) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:02 pmDRJ, how many on that list went through bankruptcy four times, personally or with their business or businesses? How many of them used it as an art form? How many of them bragged about it as a credential, as Trump did on-stage in Cleveland? How many of them pretended that they were entitled to do so because their debtors were “total killers”?
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:05 pmbtw, where are the usual p.c.-outrage mobs in response to carson’s referring to conjoined twins a “siamese” ? does he get a pass because of skin color or was nobody paying any attention to what anybody other then trump had to say ?
el polacko (39e73e) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:06 pmI guess Ed Driscoll is not a fan… http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/212163/
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:07 pmDRJ: How many times before 2016 has Trump flirted with running or encouraged people to speculate that he’d run? What are you possibly talking about when saying he doesn’t “give up” in his approach to politics? I’d agree that so far, he won’t shut up. But I’m unaware of any historical basis for saying he won’t give up, in politics or in business.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:09 pmThe moderators all asked tough questions, which is what they should have done. Most of the questions were taken from Facebook inquiries and where what people wanted to know. Trump brought his problems on himself, he wanted to be known as the “straight-talker” and when asked about it, he attacked the questioner rather than clarifying why he said what he said. Rubio was asked about his abortion stance and lied. Bush was asked about his calling Trump an asshole and he said he didn’t, which was either a lie or a lack of perception. The only one asked about something he did that caused controversy and didn’t step away from it was Cruz. McConnell lied and Cruz called him on it and Cruz stood by what he said in the senate.
labcatcher (4495c9) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:15 pmThat would be a good response, Beldar, but I don’t think it helps to get in a war of words with Trump over his bankruptcies. People who are concerned about bankruptcy won’t like Trump, and other people won’t care. Whether Romney or Trump or Fiorina or anyone is a great business leader is a fruitless debate to me, as is a debate over who is the best Governor or Senator. It’s too subjective.
That doesn’t mean facts aren’t important — they are — but different people will draw different conclusions based on what they think is important. My feeling is that many people value Trump’s willingness to fight a lot more than how many bankruptcies he’s filed.
The odd part is that the way for the GOP to get rid of Trump is to start fighting back. So far, Megyn Kelly is the only one doing it, and the Republican response is … to try to protect her. How clueless can they get?
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:20 pmI understand what you mean about Trump, Beldar. But he was and is on such a higher financial and business plane than I it’s silly for me to compare anything but basic business. Even when I had two or three operational restaurants going simultaneously they were all separate corporations, just in case one went bad the others would survive. I was fortunate that the two losers were in the middle, not the beginning or the end of my career. That could have been a disaster.
I believe so many failures in the restaurant industry are due to inexperience. As soon as I hear someone say “My dream is to retire and open a restaurant/bar” I cringe. They have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about. And believe me when I say most privately owned restaurants would close their doors if they have three bad months of business.
Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie (f4eb27) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:21 pmTrump is a spoiled brat bully who loves to dish it out, hurling personal insults at every criticism. But when it comes to taking it, he whines like a little baby.
A girl made him cry and he can’t get past it. Yeah, he meant “nose,” all right – are we just STUPID? Everyone knows exactly what he meant.
I left RedState years ago, Erickson and his gang just got too weird and power-mad for my tastes. But it’s his event, he paid for the space, tickets were reserved and sold. No one has a “right” to be there as his guest.
Estragon (ada867) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:24 pmIn fact, doing business with Trump is a recipe for losing money. His partners and creditors have lost money more often than they’ve profited in his projects.
Sure, using bankruptcy laws to screw creditors and partners is perfectly legal. That doesn’t make it the right thing to do, or make the person who does it serially a good person.
Estragon (ada867) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:27 pmMaybe I should have said Trump doesn’t back down, Beldar. Of course, I’m sure he has quit, given up, or even backed down on many occasions — his bankruptcies are proof of that — but one thing his public persona is a bombastic guy who won’t give up. He’s using that to his advantage in this race.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:27 pmHe absolutely it, DRJ. And the Republicans just keep enticing him with the red meat of a challenge/attack – on his level. They are not fighting smart. Partly because they don’t know how to deflect and diminish him, but also they are afraid to, given his popularity. Trump is combative by nature and when they disapprove of him and/or his comments, it just revs up his engine. He has an ego that is insatiable, he has a drive to win above and beyond all else. He is not going to be shamed, nor shoved off to the the side without fighting back in a big way. Republicans are timid in the face of this.
That is if you think he should be made to disappear.
There is a reason why Ted Cruz is not playing this game. And to me, it is to his credit as a gentleman, and in this case, most importantly, as a politician.
Dana (86e864) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:34 pmit = is…
Dana (86e864) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:35 pmThe Wharton school of business not exactly being the octagon.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:44 pmBeldar,
You still have the problem of the masses not really caring about bankruptcy because that is overshadowed by what directly impacts them: his refusal to back down and willingness to say what he thinks to anyone – regardless of their status, stature, position or monetary worth. It’s a class thing to a great degree. I think people like that will see his bankruptcies as a positive, in that, look, he has millions, he risked millions, he lost millions, but now he’s making more millions… instead of how you see it as evidence of a con man winning and losing, but mostly losing.
So, given that, how do you think other candidates can persuade this bloc of voters that they are the more rational candidate with practical things to offer that will improve their lives rather than the us vs. them sort of class warfare we’re seeing play out? (It’s especially ironic though given Trump is not a self-made man, nor did he come from the working class. But he provides a voice for those who feel betrayed by the professional Republicans.)
Dana (86e864) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:46 pmDana, you write (#83), of Trump, “the Republicans just keep enticing him with the red meat of a challenge/attack – on his level.” If by you mean “the Republicans” you mean pundits (including the Fox News debate moderators and other talking heads), that might be so. But none of the GOP candidates on stage at the debate except for Rand Paul attacked Trump. Some of them have indeed been more vocal in criticizing Trump before and after the debate, and you’re certainly right that Sen. Cruz has avoided that. I think it’s generally smart for the candidates to leave it to others to level those criticisms; indeed, Rand Paul interrupting to heckle Trump after the opening “raise your hand” question was one of several occasions in which Sen. Paul shot off his own toes on-stage.
But if you’re suggesting that it’s a good idea for life-long conservatives who identify with the Republican party to avoid criticizing Donald Trump, I obviously disagree with that. I don’t think the way to deal with a con-man and fraud who’s pretending to be a conservative Republican public servant is to nod and keep silent while he sucks all the oxygen out of the race for candidates like — to pick two from the undercard — Carly Fiorina and Rick Perry.
Trump’s support right now is already maximized, in my opinion. But a huge number of his supporters are still fooled by the most superficial of his claims, and I think the more people learn about the real Donald Trump, and the more performances they see in which his superficiality and phoniness is as obvious as it was on-stage Thursday night, the more rapidly he’ll withdraw from the GOP race, and the less likely it will be that he can mount a credible third-party candidacy that will hand Hillary! the White House. On this, I agree with Gov. Perry: Trump’s a political cancer that needs to be excised as soon as possible.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:54 pmDana, to answer your more specific question (#86): I think the other GOP candidates would be smart to leave him alone to the extent possible. I agree with you that Sen. Cruz’ approach is the model.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/8/2015 @ 2:59 pmWhy do we even accept Trump as a member of Team R, much less a conservative? There is little evidence of his conservatism, and much evidence of him being a rent-seeking big government Dem. the whole thing is surreal.
JD (3b5483) — 8/8/2015 @ 3:18 pmI don’t accept him as a conservative but rather another big money politician who will change with the wind. He just happens to be running as an Republican and therefore, has to be dealt with. Again, he is hitting a big nerve with Republicans.
Dana (86e864) — 8/8/2015 @ 3:25 pmI don’t think the way to deal with a con-man and fraud who’s pretending to be a conservative Republican public servant is to nod and keep silent while he sucks all the oxygen out of the race
But some of them haven’t been silent and instead of stepping up to the plate and being as forthright about controversial issues as Trump has been — particularly about an anarchic situation involving the borders and illegal immigration — they’ve either sputtered things about his divisiveness or intolerance, or left-leaning nonsense in general like that. Only Cruz has shown the other candidates how to react, while Jeb Bush has been just the opposite.
Mark (ecf4fd) — 8/8/2015 @ 3:59 pmhttp://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2013/10/03/carly-fiorina-attacks-cruz-no-honor-in-fight-to-defund-obamacare/
EPWJ (292641) — 8/8/2015 @ 3:59 pmIt should be easy to dispose of Trump. Simply point out all of his huge donations to leftists Dems, Clinton Foundation, etc. Then quote his own words praising Obama, Clinton, and their big government policies.
JD (3b5483) — 8/8/2015 @ 4:02 pmEPWJ just wet himself a little.
JD (3b5483) — 8/8/2015 @ 4:04 pmKeep trashing Trump, call him a RINO, a fat-cat, make fun of his hair, laugh at his business skills, and if he gets fed up and decides to hit back, he just might decide to make good on his threat to run third party. Which if he does quite a few votes that would have gone GOP will go with Trump – win or lose. If that’s what you want, keep trashing him. It’s exactly what Dems expect of the Stupid Party.
Like LBJ once said, better to keep the skunk inside the tent pissing out, then outside, angry, and pissing in.
ropelight (6272a0) — 8/8/2015 @ 4:04 pmRopelight, that is exactly what happened in 2012.
Simon Jester (f3dc28) — 8/8/2015 @ 4:06 pmHe’s not even a RINO, ropelight. He is a leftist that is co-opting the Team R logo as a vehicle to satisfy his ego.
JD (3b5483) — 8/8/2015 @ 4:07 pmtrue, but it’s like ghidra vs, rhodan,
http://legalinsurrection.com/2011/09/erick-erickson-is-going-to-have-to-make-a-better-case-for-gov-perry-than-this/
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/8/2015 @ 4:08 pmSimon – with all due respect, that is BS. If someone like Trump is able to split the party, then it deserves to be split. If people are willing to follow an objective big government leftist out of pique, then there was never really a point in winning.
JD (3b5483) — 8/8/2015 @ 4:10 pmIt should be easy to dispose of Trump.
And it would be if most of the Republican candidates, among others, didn’t fall for the idea that focusing on a person’s ideological biases is somehow rude, intrusive, crass, tactless, inappropriate, etc. I’ve yet to hear any of the candidates fault Trump for his left-leaning characteristics and history. Instead, they yakkity-yak about his ego, plastic hair, ungracious attitude, ad-hominem comments. Hell, I’ve yet to hear any of them point out and slam Obama for his leftist lunacy.
Mark (ecf4fd) — 8/8/2015 @ 4:13 pmLast election we had the opportunity to hire a corporate turnaround expert as our President. We declined.
This election we have the opportunity to elect a bankruptcy specialist as our President. Hmm.
(I personally think that bankruptcy would a powerful tool for our Federal government to break obligations that can’t be upheld, in the ‘promises that can’t be kept, won’t be’ idea.)
luagha (1de9ec) — 8/8/2015 @ 4:23 pmi’m voting for Mr. Governor Scott Walker not reality tv star donald trump and i will tell you why
donald trump is big gay manhattantrash weirdo whereas Mr. Governor Scott Walker has a track record of principled and effective governance.
happyfeet (831175) — 8/8/2015 @ 4:26 pmYeah. Take it as a given that I don’t know how to spell. Between that, a sticky fingered keyboard, and spell check software written in the King’s English you’ll find my judgment, with or without e, as the wind takes me.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/8/2015 @ 4:44 pmTrump isn’t splitting the party. It was already split.
Gazzer (f205c8) — 8/8/2015 @ 4:47 pmI’m riding with happyfeet. Scott Walker is the brand of normal this country needs.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/8/2015 @ 4:48 pmNo cross channel food fights or ambiguous loyalties with Walker.
When people can’t spell it’s a sure fire bet they either didn’t make it through high school, speak French, or they’ve been to college.
ropelight (6272a0) — 8/8/2015 @ 4:49 pmIn the wake of megyn’s 2+ hour tampax commercial where she had the biggest audience in cable news history to try and sell people on tired-ass DNC war on the womens memes – what’s the biggest shake-up in the race?
Carly’s flying high like a soaring eagle.
#megynfail #bloodyshame #falafelwrap
happyfeet (831175) — 8/8/2015 @ 5:00 pmThere are several superficial politicians in this race, just in different ways. Megan Kelly called out Trump for the way he treats women. That doesn’t bother me about Trump or Kelly. They can play those games all they want. But everyone will have to say what they stand for in the debates, and that will happen as the debates go forward. It’s not an overnight process.
in addition, all these candidates will have to show why they are different than the other candidates/Obama/Hillary, and that will probably happen through the PACs. Those ads will benefit Bush and Cruz and maybe Rubio, because they have money, and Trump if he’s willing to spend his money. Who will start spending that money first and who will do it best?
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 5:01 pmis this a real thing?
skrillex and diplo dropped a track with the biebs?
i’ll try and listen later
it might could be a hoax
happyfeet (831175) — 8/8/2015 @ 5:03 pmmeh, much a do about nothing;
http://therightscoop.com/watch-ted-cruzs-redstate-speech-now-is-our-time/
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/8/2015 @ 5:06 pm#109 yes yes yes that is a real thing that happened
happyfeet (831175) — 8/8/2015 @ 5:10 pmHere’s a theory: Fiorina is a female version of Trump. She’s more polite and more focused on the Democrats, which is great, but people aren’t responding because she’s addressing the issues in any great depth. What is driving her poll numbers is that people see her as a fighter, just like Trump.
This is what happens at this point in the process. People respond to passion because that’s the easiest thing to see right now. They never let go of that passion for Obama in 2008. Maybe Republicans won’t let go of their passion either, but they have so many choices that I doubt it.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 5:20 pmI’m not with that guy at #109
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/8/2015 @ 5:24 pmThere is a lot of nasty innuendo about Carly and her time at HP. She needs to address this with a good position paper at her web site. I recall some of the details as a Board room fight with heirs who wanted to take over. Something like that happened with Disney years ago.
She is seen as a fighter but without Trump’s boorishness. I am favorably impressed.
I was also tempted by Perot in 1992 and lived to regret it. I fear Trump is another egomaniac like Perot.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 8/8/2015 @ 5:26 pm“Bad
LuckBlood” by Teddy PederastWell, well
you look at Megyn, she looks at you
You say the damnedest things, you’re startin’ to lose
you try to make ’em laugh, but now the laugh’s on you
Bad blood’s there, and they all know it’s true
You don’t ask for money, don’t need a loan
Done lose your mojo and half of what you own
They say that all is fair in politics and war
But if you wanna know the truth about it
I’ll tell you all about the score, yeah
You got bad blood
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/8/2015 @ 5:32 pmThat’s what you got, that’s what you got
(Yes, uh)
Bad blood
That’s what you got, that’s what you got
Bad blood
That’s what you got, that’s what you got
You got bad blood, bad blood
I liked Perot way, way before 1992 because he hired mercenaries to rescue some of his workers from an Iranian prison, and I retained affection for him no matter how kooky he got. Trump has always made me want to puke. I voted for 41 and washed my hands twice when I came back from the polling station. Perot was the smaller contribution to his loss. His “no new taxes” breach of promise was bigger, and so was Buchanan.
nk (dbc370) — 8/8/2015 @ 5:40 pmDitto what nk said, except I voted for Perot and don’t regret it.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 5:43 pmwell there was a time, that he made common cause with the Christic nuts, interestingly one of their targets was Richard Armitage, then an aide to Dole, the fellow who came to his defense at that time,
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/8/2015 @ 5:46 pmwas Lewis Libby, that Truman remark about friends in Washington, is all too true,
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2015/08/07/wastewater-continues-spilling-into-now-orange-animas-river/
Obama’s EPA poisons a river in Colorado in order to further it’s aim to close down mining operation.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:03 pmThere’s a pretty good book about Perot’s mission to rescue his employees called “On Wings of Eagles,” written by Ken Follet the novelist. It has been called a myth by the Chicago Tribune and may be a bit exaggerated. Still, he seemed to be impressive until he went all paranoid about his daughter’s wedding.
Trump is much less impressive as a man who did well with his daddy’s money. Perot was a Navy officer who started from the bottom as Carly did.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:09 pmShe didn’t just come out of nowhere to become CEO of HP.
Only the public sector rewards a track record of failure. Just based upon common sense, I’m guessing that if you sifted through Carly Fiorina’s background you’d find the occasional nugget evidencing competence scattered about.
Unlike Hillary! whose only demonstrated instance of competence was marrying Bill and riding his coat tails to DC.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:23 pmDRJ
Did you vote for ma Richards?
EPWJ (292641) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:27 pmCompared to how many successes, Kevin M?
I have no idea. Maybe none. Maybe everything his managers fail to keep from his grasp turns to spit.
The man inherited an awful lot of money. I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure that if you start with $100 million, you will probably succeed in life, unless you’re Nelson and Bunker Hunt or something.
But for the most part, people who work 4 levels below his toupee-ness make all the decisions. He just flies around to sign the deals and hook up with women of a certain type.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:28 pmDRJ, I don’t think the same people who are (belatedly, and still in single-digit polling numbers) responding to Fiorina are the people who responded to Trump.
I do agree that they have in common a willingness to be blunt, even at the risk of stepping across imaginary lines of propriety that still constrain the likes of Jeb Bush (when he’s speaking on the record).
But Carly can speak not only in complete sentences, but coherent paragraphs.
Carly didn’t bankrupt her businesses.
I could go on, but I don’t think there’s any other relevant similarity between them except for their bluntness, and their recognition — from very different starting places — that there is a large number of conservative voters who feel betrayed by the people they gave control of Congress to in 2014.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:31 pmI remember Perot, the grenade with a bad haircut. His third party candidacy siphoned about 19% of the vote, mostly out of George HW Bush’s hide, and put Slick Willy in the White House. But, I guess that depends on what your definition of put is.
ropelight (6272a0) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:36 pmA line I hope to hear, when His Trumpness goes on about bankruptcy being a normal part of business:
“HP never went into bankruptcy, before, during or after my time there. I made damned sure of that.”
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:36 pmBeldar,
I agree they aren’t the same people (by definition), but that doesn’t mean they can’t have similar concerns.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:37 pmno room in the BIG tent for Carly?
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:37 pmYou are comparing Fiorina and Trump. I am comparing the people who identify with or support them, and specifically why they like these two candidates. There can be a lot of differences but what matters is the one quality they share — they speak out.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:39 pmHis third party candidacy siphoned about 19% of the vote, mostly out of George HW Bush’s hide, and put Slick Willy in the White House.
Nope. He didn’t “siphon” he “sponged up” voters that Bush and Buchanan had thrown away and who had nowhere else to go. If the GOP had had a strong candidate who ran a solid campaign on his own merits, Perot would have gotten 3% like the Libertarians and Greens.
nk (dbc370) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:42 pmIs there anyone here that believes that a President Trump will be likely to undo Obama’s usurpations of power? That he will be more respectful of the Constitution? That his Supreme Court appointees will be in the mold of Scalia and Thomas? That he will reduce the power and scope of the federal government? That he will listen to his advisors and not take precipitate action?
There is absolutely nothing present in what he says that even begins to resemble the Tea Party of 2010-11. I bet he has never even cleaned up after himself.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:43 pmDoes anyone really think people believe Fiorina is the best candidate on the issues or based on her expdrience? What sets her apart is she is a fighter, articulate, and a woman. Those are all important and maybe they are important enough to make her some people’s ultimate choice. I’m fine if that’s the case but I want to see her pressed on the issues first.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:46 pmPerhaps, more accurately: “This man is clearly (making us all) believer(s) in the old adage that there is no such thing as bad publicity.” Why anyone would have denied this adage in the first place is what’s mystifying. It’s not as if Trump invented the tough guy shtick. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie jumped into the Republican limelight a number of years ago with a very similar approach.
We learned much that was good on Thursday night, but also got some bad news. On the bright side, it is hard to imagine a more effective refutation of the gentility strategy embraced by most RINOs and many other Republicans. As we watch The Donald’s polling numbers go even higher, we should have all reached a point of clarity about what a bunch of wimpy fools they (we?) have been.
As for the bad news, it appears that Fox newsers are just as unethical as their more liberal counterparts. I particularly like happy’s “she did a bad job” comment – I like simple, honest and direct statements of fact. None us us should be happy that Megyn Kelly pulled a Crowley. Who, exactly, are we supposed to trust?
I am a big fan of Erick Erickson, but I am also more than disappointed that he sees his role as White Knight. It’s not just the supplicating I object to, but that his dis-invitation is a slap in the face to all those attending the Red State Gathering. What a disrespectful move by a manipulative and controlling man!
Right now, many among us think that all is lost, or nearly so, because the Democrats have gone off the deep end. What concerns me more is the cover provided to the left by those on the right who have come completely off the rails. How are we ever to reverse the loses of recent years with this team?
ThOR (a52560) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:46 pmPerot’s votes can from people who were unhappy with GWB’s runaway social spending and massive deficit explosion. He had run as Reagan’s heir, and he betrayed that trust. Along comes Perot who says he’ll balance the budget in short order. He got 19% of the vote, and Mr Gingrich heard the message best. The wave election of 1994 was the GOP picking up the Perot vote.
And the budget did get balanced for a time, until the establishment GOP forced Gingrich out.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:47 pmI’ve actually been pondering the wave of frustration that Trump has tapped into for many weeks, and I’m grateful to those — including commenters here — who’ve consistently pointed to it as a genuine phenomenon that can’t, or at least ought not, be ignored.
I think the blame falls primarily on the shoulders of Mitch McConnell.
Before the 2014 elections, Harry Reid and his cohort in the Senate did the political equivalent of what Germany did in WW1 at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915 — the first use of weapons of mass destruction. That is, they abandoned the extra-Constitutional but time-hallowed rules of the Senate that underlay the filibuster, for no better purpose than to ram through a handful of Obama judicial nominees.
When the GOP took control of both houses of Congress, the voters who’d created that result expected those GOP legislators in both chambers of Congress to send Barack Obama a constant stream of bills dismantling the damage he and his Pelosi/Reid cronies have done to the United States. We expected our GOP majorities in Congress to make Obama use that veto pen on a weekly basis, and we expected that not only our GOP candidate for President, but every GOP Senator and Congressman in 2016 could run against the Democratic stalwarts who sustained most of Obama’s vetoes.
That hasn’t happened. It ought to have. Mitch McConnell has instead pretended that when the Dems regain (inevitably, whenever) a Senate majority, they’ll go back to honoring the multi-decades-old historic convention of Senate restraint, of making the Senate the saucer that cools the House’s hot coffee, of mutually agreed-upon limited government as represented (but not mandated by the Constitution) through the historic mutually-observed-self-limitation of the filibuster.
That makes Mitch McConnell probably the greatest sucker and fool in the history of the American Senate. I wish the Dems hadn’t killed the filibuster, because I believe in limited government despite the many examples (civil rights chief among them) in which the filibuster rule was used for pernicious and anti-democratic (small-D) purposes. But the Dems broke the peace. That bell can’t be un-rung, that use of political WMDs and raw Constitutional power without extra-Constitutional limits can’t be, or at least ought not by by anyone but fools (like McConnell), ignored going forward.
I had realistic expectations about what a GOP Congress could and should do as long as Barack Obama remained president. I fully expected him to do everything he has done, contrary to the Constitution, in brazen defiance of the Rule of Law, in a more imperial arrogation of raw political power than Richard Nixon ever dreampt of, once the Dems lost both chambers of Congress. But I share in the anger and frustration of those who are angry and betrayed-feeling conservatives (which comprise something between half and three-quarters of the Donald’s supporters, hence 25% or so of the GOP, for the moment at least).
But nothing makes me believe Donald Trump is the solution, or even a partial solution, to any of that problem. And I fear — and I haven’t yet heard you or anyone who has any sympathy for Trump — suggest how he’s ever going to win a general election, much less lead a country. He certainly has no record, either as a politician or a businessman, to suggest he has that capacity, even if we (wildly and speculatively) presume he has that desire and intention.
We have real problems. We have a handful of GOP candidates — Ted Cruz would be at the top of my list of those, although Fiorina is similarly blunt — who are willing to recognize those and offer a clear alternative. I’m not sure if they’re electable; I can’t see Cruz as anyone’s Veep, but I can certainly see Carly as, say, Walker’s or even Rubio’s.
But I’m not going to pretend Trump is anything other than a cancer, or anything other than Hillary!’s best hope.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:48 pmDoes anyone really think people believe Fiorina is the best candidate on the issues or based on her expdrience? What sets her apart is she is a fighter, articulate, and a woman. Those are all important and maybe they are important enough to make her some people’s ultimate choice. I’m fine if that’s the case but I want to see her pressed on the issues first.
Oh, gods yes. Now, I have heard her talk about issues already, and she’s not bad. I would like to hear her talk on MY pet issues (smaller government, prosecuting the criminals, devolution of power, etc).
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:48 pmGo trump go
mg (31009b) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:51 pmvulgarity against the media is red meat
I enjoy seeing team r crack at the seams, some people think he is a democrat plant, my response, like boehner and mcconnell. lmmfao at republicans who are blaming trump for their own stupidity. Popcorn is a life saver during the times of republican traitorism. Cruz/West
I think the blame falls primarily on the shoulders of Mitch McConnell.
Yes. It is McConnell’s insane defense of the holy filibuster rule that is letting Obama get away with his crap. Without the filibuster, instead of a do-nothing Congress, you have President Nyet.
And McConnell (and his supporters like Hatch) think that people people understand that it’s the Democrats in the Senate blocking everything, when in fact 99.93% of the population neither knows or cares about his precious comity and filibuster. Certain the Democrats don’t.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:53 pmwell you need substance with your anomie, the combination of McTurtles acquiescence, the tragedy of Kate Steinle, the pigheaded rush to pull his sponsors, as if contract law was a thing of the past, all contributed to this wave,
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:55 pmAnd this is why I give Boehner a pass so far. He knows that no matter what the House does, the Senate will never act. Why go out on a limb for nothing?
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:56 pmHow much did the chamber of commerce pay red state to dump trump?
mg (31009b) — 8/8/2015 @ 6:58 pmBTW, do you folks really believe, as Trump insisted in the debate, that without him none of the candidates would have made a fuss over illegal immigration? If Trump is the Indispensable Man, we are already doomed.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:00 pmMcConnell isn’t the only or the main problem. I wish he were because then we could fix this. The problem is the entire DC GOP mentality that put Cochran back in the Senate and keeps Boehner hoping for amnesty and makes virtually every elected Republican believe the most important goal is to fight for their own re-election. If it were only McConnell, we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:00 pmgiving boehner a pass is pathetic.
mg (31009b) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:00 pmI note with interest the folks that swilling the Trumpaid, here and elsewhere. Pretty much the usual suspects.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:01 pmTrump is the wrong man, but with the right message. He speaks truth to power. Most candidates and all Republican nominees in recent memory are wrong on both counts. Speaking truth to power doesn’t make him a cancer; it makes him a leader. The fact that Trump is deeply flawed doesn’t make him less of a leader. If more Republicans would follow Trump’s lead, this wouldn’t be the party of McConnell.
ThOR (a52560) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:03 pmDRJ, it isn’t only McConnell, but it IS only the Senate, and the filibuster rule. The Senate did the same thing to Reagan — it was easier to get stuff through the Democrat House than the GOP Senate.
If McConnell didn’t have support from the old guard GOP Senators, he’d be out and someone else would be in. The good news: there are a lot of GOP Senators up this time, and a lot of them deserve to be challenged. Starting with McCain.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:06 pmYes, Kevin M 142, I do believe that. Cruz would have been the only one talking about immigration and they would have targeted him, just as they did over ObamaCare and the shutdown. The “good” news for Cruz supporters like me is that I know Cruz will stand up on these issues even if they cost him the election, but I don’t see many candidates that would do the same. I don’t enjoy having Trump as an ally — he’s not my choice at all — but I guess it’s better than no one.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:07 pmI would have a hard time voting for trump, but I love how he makes the little republican boys look like politically correct nuns.
mg (31009b) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:07 pmLordy the big tent is full of stupid.
DRJ, I think the precise reason that Cruz called McConnell a “liar” when he did — to national headlines in both conservative and liberal media — is because Cruz is playing the long game. I still think Cruz is a dark horse for the GOP nomination in 2016. I think Cruz went so publicly, dramatically on the attack against McConnell when he did because Cruz is thinking about who will be the next Senate majority leader, hopefully under a GOP POTUS, in 2017.
It won’t be Cruz. But don’t be too surprised if it’s John Cornyn as a compromise candidate, with his junior Senator from Texas lending him backbone. I could live with that.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:07 pmmen of real courage and wisdom are in demand, Judge Hanen, looked at the amnesty scam, and said ‘you shall not pass’ and it will be bottled up for a while, a 1,000 excuses have been made why Ted Cruz or Tom Cotton, can’t get anything done, yet the TPA or the Corker bill sale right through, and there was almost this Akhenaton purge of Southern heritage sites, the streets have returned back the savage 80s of the Equalixer or even perhaps Death Wish fame, and there are 93 million people out of the job market entirely,
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:07 pmJust the Senate? Heh.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:08 pmCornyn has no backbone. He’s McConnell’s flunky. Cruz has told us what he’s doing. He’s taking on the Washington Cartel and Cornyn is as much a member as McConnell. Fortunately, though, people like that are so weak that if a leader like Cruz gets elected, they will follow him because they are too weak to stand up for anything but their biggest corporate donors.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:11 pmCornyn is a nice, smart man. I have no doubt he’s an honorable man who does what he thinks is right. But we tend to believe what we want is also what’s right, and I don’t think Cornyn is right on the issues anymore. Also, he isn’t a strong leader for tough times.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:17 pmSessions has led on the immigration mess, and been a lot more effective in doing so than Cruz. i can see him becoming SML.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:20 pmThis is Cornyn ‘ s idea of leadership. It’s all for show. He’s no different than McConnell, et al.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:21 pmwell it’s a pattern, Dole, Lott, Frist, the lions of the Senate, snorfle,
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:22 pmHere’s another observation, for what it’s worth, based on my viewing of both the undercard and the main event Thursday night, as DVR’d (so I could rewind and replay to my heart’s content):
I’ve heard Ted Cruz, before some select audiences, speak every bit as rapidly as Bobby Jindal or Carly Fiorina.
At this debate, Ted Cruz very deliberately spoke at about two-thirds that speed. If you read the transcript, his sentences are shorter than any other candidates, and take up less space.
Cruz is in this presidential race to educate the American public, and to provide — not by attack, but by example — an alternative. I’m profoundly grateful to and proud of him for doing that, even though I think he’s still a distant dark horse.
What was his overriding theme in this debate? That he would tell the plain truth. The first question that the Fox News team put to him — a tough question! a gotcha question — was all about Cruz being a bomb-thrower and rebel in Congress who’d called the Senate Majority Leader a liar. Ted Cruz not only confirmed that without a moment’s hesitation, he reveled in it. He explained exactly why.
You won’t hear that from John Kasich or Jeb Bush or Scott Walker. You might hear it from Chris Christie, but he’s ten times the long-shot that Cruz is. You might hear it from Mike Huckabee, but it would be mixed with a joke and cornpone. And when you look at Christie’s or Huckabee’s records, you can’t feel confident about their fidelity in office, under pressure, to conservative principles.
My fondness for Scott Walker, actually, is mostly based on his record — not his rhetoric. He’s not that kind of blunt speaker by nature. But he has a track record as governor of a blue state, against overwhelming and focused pressure from the national Democratic Party, that makes anything Christie or Huckabee have done look like lukewarm bath water.
(Perry also has a record of presiding over a consistently conservative state government, but not against a fraction of the opposition that Walker’s faced; Perry was basically able to coast to election and re-election after Dubya resigned by giving Texans what they wanted, which was the least government plausible. That’s laudable, it’s why I happily voted for Perry every time he ran. I don’t think it’s what we need from a POTUS, though, because I believe we need someone who won’t just govern conservatively, I think we need a conservative house-cleaner who will push through a Reagan-type revolution in Washington.)
Question for y’all: I’ve heard tons of pundits speculate that Fiorina, and to a lesser but still considerable extent, Perry, had sufficiently good performances on the undercard to justify them moving to the main event, the top 10, next time around. But that will mean someone in last Thursday’s top 10 has to drop out. Who might that be? I have no confident prediction about that.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:28 pmI would like to see Fiorina replace Kasich. I hope the polls make that possible but I think the MSM is doing everything it can to prop up Kasich and keep her out.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:33 pmDRJ, the best you’ll find is someone from Politico or The Hill imputing criticism of Cruz to Cornyn, or vice versa. They’ve actually been extremely respectful of one another.
I agree that Cornyn is much more a go-along-to-get-along Senator. But he hasn’t made the enemies that Cruz has among other GOP senators, which include a lot of folks (e.g, McCain) I’d rather see out of the Senate, but who, for now, are still voting members of the GOP majority. That’s why I said: Don’t be surprised to see Cruz support Cornyn as McConnell’s successor as a compromise candidate. I guarantee you that both Ted Cruz and John Cornyn have imagined that scenario.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:34 pmI agree with Beldar about Perry.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:35 pmKasich benefited in this debate from being newly announced, and from being the favorite son (Gov. of Ohio before a Cleveland crowd). I think he did well enough that he won’t be the first to drop out of the most recent top-10 in polling, although I’d not be disappointed by that.
I’d rather see Christie or Huckabee dropped, but I don’t expect that either.
I’m thinking it might be Rand Paul who gets bumped by Fiorina. Rand’s crazy streak was almost as obvious as Trump’s, and while I don’t think Christie improved his position much by his clash with Paul, I think Paul suffered.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:38 pmthis publication is probably as bad as the Daily News, either in NY or points north
http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/26/cruz-and-cornyn-engage-senate-floor/
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:40 pmAs whip, Cornyn serves as McConnell’s adjutant, right? He does not set the agenda, he lines up the rank and file to carry it out? It seems to me that you would need a personable guy with good people skills for the job.
nk (dbc370) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:40 pmTo use Prof. Reynold’s language: Cruz is in this race not necessarily to win (which he might, but probably won’t), but to move the Overton Window of what’s considered plausible. And that needs doing.
I just don’t think Trump is the guy to do it.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:43 pmCornyn would be better than McConnell or Corker, but barely and only because he’s a Texan so I know he will be pressured to be conservative. But he manages to ignore the pressure more than I like.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:47 pmnk: That’s Cornyn to a T, yes. He offends almost no one, to the point that might become a liability. Cornyn was a justice on the Texas Supreme Court before he was a U.S. Senator, and he has that sort of collegiality. He’s now very senior, and that’s why I think he could be a compromise choice. I also think the young Turks like Cruz would be entirely willing to use him as their proxy, in which case Cornyn’s rhetoric would stiffen considerably.
The problem is that there are still a great many GOP senators who would rather have mush than backbone, who’re waiting for a GOP POTUS to take the heat and let them avoid controversial positions that might cost them reelection. But that could change.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:47 pmthen again who has the better side of this argument,
http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2015/02/05/cornyn-and-cruz-clash-on-obamas-ag-nominee/
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:47 pmI was not impressed by Perry on the undercard. He seemed to have some problem with his speech — mispronouncing “Reagan” once, if not twice. I’m also concerned that being Texas governor doesn’t prepare one for the dynamics of DC. W had a problem with that, and Texas government was more diverse (in the real meaning of the word) then.
It is possible he might change places with Christie, especially if Chris’ supports start thinking “Bush to block”.
God only knows what will happen with Trump, though.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:52 pmKasich has a problem in that he will try to be on all sides of all issues. At some point that’s a problem. He reminds me of a Souter opinion.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:53 pmCornyn doesn’t want to be the people person forever, nk. I think he wants to be Majority Leader.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:53 pmCornyn is an ambitious fellow. He’s been the Texas AG, Chief Justice if the Texas Supreme Court, and Senator and Majority Whip. Any one of those positions would be enough to satisfy out people. He is always moving up.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 7:59 pmAs long as Trump keeps giving the GOP establishment hell, I’ll keep singin’ his praises. He ain’t a politician, he’s already rich, and if he’s willing to take on the task of Making America Great Again then I’m willing to see the next card. It’s a long and bumpy road to the November 2016 election and there’s no good reason to weed out the one (currently) GOP candidate so far able to create the excitement and enthusiasm that inspires the party’s base to turn out and win elections.
ropelight (6272a0) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:08 pmDRJ, agreed re Cornyn’s ambition; and yet, he’ll look for someone else to put him in that position, rather than bumping elbows with anyone else to get it.
A last thought for tonight, re The Donald:
Was I the only person nauseated by Trump trying to wrap himself in the cloak of Ronald Reagan by saying that he (Trump) had “evolved”?
It’s been a while, but I don’t recall Reagan ever using that word — “evolved” — to describe his transformation from a Democrat to a Republican. And I do recall Reagan explaining that process — a multi-decade one — at considerable length, as far back as Barry Goldwater’s 1964 campaign. When Reagan explained that transformation, it was compelling. When the Donald used it as his excuse for going from “pro single-payer” to anti-Obamacare, from pro-choice to pro-life, and for every other spectacular flip-flop in his recent re-branding attempt, it sounded Clintonesque.
And I mean that description in the most insulting fashion possible.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:08 pmScott Walker, assayed thrice and proven true.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:09 pmi’m still waiting on that to happen to Present-snit Obola…
redc1c4 (a6e73d) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:13 pmIf more Republicans would follow Trump’s lead, this wouldn’t be the party of McConnell.
The milquetoast nature of most of the Republican candidates (Jeb Bush in particular, Lindsey Graham most certainly, John McCain pulling up the rear) and their, for example, showing more gumption in attacking Trump instead of a character like McConnell, much less Obama, is why Trump walked right through the door and grabbed the attention of many people and soothed a bit of their exasperation, if not disgust.
Pretty much only Ted Cruz has been tactically and probably philosophically (ie, he too realizes the hot-button topic of the border ain’t nothing to sneeze about) savvy enough to handle the situation in the correct way. However, for only purely — purely — superficial reasons I’m hesitant about Cruz’s ability to connect with enough of the public to draw their winning support. Unfortunately, Cruz’s aquiline face is not straight out of central casting (at least if a person isn’t being portrayed as a grumpy uncle), and the looks of a politician do affect the gut reactions he or she will trigger in a good portion of the public.
Mark (ecf4fd) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:15 pmwell how often do you find principled New York State GOP, Guiliani was probably closest, even though his sentiment were more prochoice and proamnesty, but he was strong on law enforcement, public administration, and foreign policy, the State Senate, well it’s something of the cantina bar scene from Star Wars, there’s a better pretense than Bloomberg, to whom Jeb is tied for cluelessness,
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:15 pmi’m with ropelight @ #173… and here’s why.
redc1c4 (a6e73d) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:15 pmDoes the EPA have an internal affairs department? Somebody has to rein in that collection of greenpeace rejects and Gaia crusaders.
EPA mine cleanup accident leaks yellow sludge from old Colorado mine into river
The EPA, acting alone, killed an entire river. Just pulled the plug on a million gallons of toxic sludge, and down the drain it goes.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:20 pmWill anybody be going to jail? Pretty sure if it were a mining company who did this someone would be in the stockade.
to whom Jeb is tied for cluelessness,
At this moment, I reserve all my disdain for him, not Trump.
Mark (ecf4fd) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:20 pmIf I have to choose between Bush and Trump, I’ll choose Bush. Then vomit.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:33 pmBeldar, IIRC Reagan’s basic line was “I didn’t leave the Democrat Party; the Democrat Party left me.”
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:35 pmuntil the establishment GOP forced Gingrich out.
Gingrich took himself out by his ridiculous book deal. I guess it was his first chance for real money and he went for it like Abscam. He is the reason we did not get the reform we hoped for after 1994. Clinton played Gingrich like a fish after the shutdown.
Gingrich has further distinguished himself by feeding the Democrats all the attack strategy against Romney in 2012, especially “Vulture Capitalist.”
Mike K (90dfdc) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:36 pmi’m still waiting on that to happen to Present-snit Obola…
It has, countless times, and if we had a press that would report it, he would have fallen by now.
http://www.theonion.com/article/media-having-trouble-finding-right-angle-on-obamas-2703
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:37 pmas opposed to Boehner a generation later, when the coup deposed him and Hastert discarded the last shreds of principle. of course Kasich had previously signed on to that bogus budget deal, crafted by Franklyn Raines, who would go on to much bigger scams,
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:41 pmGingrich has further distinguished himself by feeding the Democrats all the attack strategy against Romney in 2012, especially “Vulture Capitalist.”
Because it would never have occurred to them. Think rather that we nominated a man who was susceptible to that attack.
And Gingrich left because his strategy for the 1998 midterms was a failure. The impeachment was a political mistake and/or the case had not been made to the voters. That the press effed us should have been expected.
But the people who took over — Hastert and co, spent the next 8 years lining their pockets and spending money.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:41 pmWhich reminds me: The House and Senate can each, separately, pass a motion of Censure of any federal official. It is rarely done, and considered a great disgrace to the person censured. Just off the top of my head, I could name 10 reasons to do that to Obama.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:45 pmThat will never happen. Someone might call them racists.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:47 pmIf I have to choose between Bush and Trump, I’ll choose Bush. Then vomit.
If the nominating process ends up with Bush as the last man standing, then that will signify a severe failure of the screening process.
At this point, I’m in a “Anyone But Bush” frame of mind—although that same reaction towards someone like Graham or Huckabee, much less uber-squish Christie, goes without saying.
Mark (ecf4fd) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:51 pmI will vote for whomever promises to convert the entire motorcade to ’32 Fords.
Roadsters, coupes, and five windows.
And designating one of them “Flathead 1.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn2-b_opVTo
And that would be the Preezy’s ride.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:51 pmMy vote for Flathead One.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.racingjunk.com/ui/4/61/36935614-466-1932-FORD-5-WINDOW-COUPE.jpg
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:55 pmCool ride, are they still around,
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/8/2015 @ 8:56 pmhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDMJewBF32I
Always at about one minute in they have to tweak the throttle.
Like the exhaust note wasn’t schweeet enough.
Always. Like they’re on a clock.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 9:06 pmSo a group of Trump supporters are having lunch and the waiter stops by their table and asks, “Is anything ok?”
nk (dbc370) — 8/8/2015 @ 9:09 pm— What does Trump tell Obama voters?
nk (dbc370) — 8/8/2015 @ 9:12 pm— Orange is the new black.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4N46tjjl1g
Ford is back in business.
http://wot.motortrend.com/1940-ford-coupe-added-to-automakers-list-of-reproduction-body-shells-282035.html
OK. It’s the ’40 Ford, not the ’32. But you can get the ’32 from a lot of vendors. And I wouldn’t kick a ’40 Ford out of bed.
In the late ’90s France released a bunch of flathead engines as military surplus. Apparently France used flatheads in its military vehicles 50 years after the rest of the world moved on.
Who knew?
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 9:16 pmSteve the 36 Ford was made in Britain with a flattie as late as 1951 under the name Ford Pilot.
Gazzer (f205c8) — 8/8/2015 @ 9:21 pmhttp://www.corvettecentral.com/concept_57/
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 9:25 pmKasich played well in his home state, but I don’t think he would elsewhere. He’s an unknown and he’s also another R team player. He needs to go so Fiorina can move up to the top tier. Or Rand Paul, who did himself no favors and came off like a snotty, petulant boy.
I like what I’ve heard from her and I like how composed she is when under attack. I want to hear more of her policy positions and specifics. She is not a professional politician, but she has what Americans are clamoring for more than political-know how, and that’s a willingness to speak her mind and stand by her convictions. I thought her interaction with Chris Matthews demonstrated, too, how skillful she is in negotiating attacks from the left.
I believe Perry is done. He doesn’t play to a national stage apparently. It made me sad to see Twitter jokes: Hey, maybe it wasn’t the medication, but they have a point.
Dana (86e864) — 8/8/2015 @ 9:30 pm@198, thanks Gazzer. I don’t pretend to know everything.
One of the interesting sidelines, to me, is how US automakers continued to sell outdated models in foreign markets. South Africa, South America, Australia.
And not just sell them. Develop them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Hemi-6_Engine
When I was growing up every up and coming racer lusted after Aussie 351 Cleveland blocks.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 9:33 pmKasich has a problem in that he will try to be on all sides of all issues. At some point that’s a problem.
Isn’t that problem from the get-go, not at some point?
Dana (86e864) — 8/8/2015 @ 9:33 pmthat’s cold, but last time Erickson was propping him up, even the Huntress gave him some kudos, for proposing some important details, like QE 2, I think Schmidt’s influence is profound, and not in a good way,
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/8/2015 @ 9:35 pmback last fall, on Morgan Freeman’s in kind Hillary contribution, they had a Perry type as the stock foil, who was pushing to extradite a mexican trafficker, now I imagine they’ll be murderous Trump type on
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/8/2015 @ 9:43 pmmany of these shows this fall,
http://www.chiheads.com.au/
Yes, they’re Australian.
The Cleveland was the better engine than the Windsor.
In fact, I could walk you through a Chevy LT/LS and point by point show you it owes more to the Cleveland than to the predecessor small block.
Not that I have a problem with the small block Chevy. And I offer that up without the same internal reservations I’d have if I was pretending I don’t have a problem with transvestites.
No, Chevy didn’t get it that wrong. I can work with it.
But the Cleveland was a masterpiece.
I’m getting misty.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 9:45 pmI meant to go on and say that the since the Windsor continued in production for decades eventually it won out for nothing but sheer sticking it out. Refusing to die.
Eventually the aftermarket came to grips with the fact the Windsor was here to stay, and developed the engine. Even making it into a Cleveland.
http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/mc/cylinder-heads/ford/performer-rpm-clevor.shtml
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 9:50 pmSteve – I got 116 ft lb tq to the rear wheel on my Harley on a Dyno today.
JD (34f761) — 8/8/2015 @ 9:51 pmShe is not a professional politician, but she has what Americans are clamoring for more than political-know how, and that’s a willingness to speak her mind and stand by her convictions.
I should hope so.
But then I notice that rather substantial portion of the public (per opinion polls, dating back years) giving a scroungy, mediocre and mendacious character like Hillary (the epitome of a smooth-talking professional politician) so much benefit of the doubt, time and time again, and I can’t help but suspect that what too many Americans actually want isn’t necessarily a person speaking his or her mind and standing up for his/her convictions, as much as a person who they perceive as having a soft, warm, big-hugs, bite-his-lip glow emanating around him or her. Namely, the public’s foolish impressions and stereotypes of a liberal.
By contrast, a scroungy, mediocre, mendacious conservative version of a Hillary would not be, and never will be, possible or plausible. The reason is that same portion of the public (including even some Republicans) happily doing a contortionist routine to excuse a scroungy Hillary will never do the same thing to a person of the right. But that’s why various forms of corruption and dysfunction aren’t as easily born out of a setting full of conservatism and its adherents.
Mark (ecf4fd) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:00 pmJD, congrats.
The Harley Davidson big twins were never a thread I pulled on, but I can appreciate them. Even if they’re not my thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKfznizTgis
USS Gonzales, showing a rooster tail to everything on blue water.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:06 pmWhen I had my Sportster, I’d sometimes notice, pulling away from full stop, that I had to give it a quarter turn more throttle and it would backfire once or twice. It was because I thought I was in first gear and I was in second.
nk (dbc370) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:08 pmGonzalez
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:09 pmThe first Ford Falcon was made in Argentina as late as 1984, with some style changes such as lights.
Gazzer (f205c8) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:11 pmMy only experience with motorcycles were two stroke dirt bikes back in the ’70s.
The most memorable was a Hodaka Combat Wombat.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:13 pmoh dear MARK. Did you describe RODHAM as “smooth talking”???? Please excuse me if I am wrong, BUT, RODHAM is a JOKE. Nothing about her/him (no microagressions from me!!) is SMOOOOOOTH. The only reason we even know who RODHAM is…..is…(is is …get it?) is because BILLY THE RAPIST CLINTON impregnated RODHAM.
Gus (7cc192) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:17 pmI’m sure it is a personal failing, and maybe I can be redeemed before I shuffle off this mortal coil, and I remain a potential convert, but my blood just never ran hot for Harleys.
‘Stangs, on the other hand. The sweet exhaust note of a really striving OHV small block Ford could bring me out of a coma.
I’m weird that way.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:24 pmYes I can tell the difference. It’s all in the firing order.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:26 pmTurmoil in Trump camp as political adviser and friend of 40 years has either quit or been fired, depending on who you ask. Supposedly this is the convo that’s ok place, according to witnesses:
Dana (86e864) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:26 pmSmall block Chevy:
1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2
Small block Ford:
1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8
For my ’68 Ranchero. For my ’88 Mustang LS:
1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:36 pmBuh-bye American Pie
mg (31009b) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:36 pmThat,s why a Viper V10 sounds like 2 crappy five pots. Lambo make a scintillating V10, Chrysler not so much. My neighbor even commented that Brit straight 6 on triple Webers sounded way better than his Viper. Couldn’t disagree.
Gazzer (f205c8) — 8/8/2015 @ 10:47 pmGazzer, thanks for the back up. I knew I wasn’t entirely off the rails, but it could seem that way to someone who isn’t a aficionado.
You could blind fold me, fire up an engine, and I’d know. That’s a small block Ford. Or Chevy.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:10 pmMember the old say when you could tell what make a car was at night just by the lights? Nowadays I can’t tell some of them apart side by side in the daylight.
Gazzer (f205c8) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:23 pmCars have certainly grown less interesting.
Remember when “stock car” meant something in a NASCAR sort of way? The Ford Torino you could drive off the showroom floor had some semblance to the car in the winner’s circle?
http://www.streetlegaltv.com/news/david-pearson-nascarimsa-ford-torino-is-a-sight-of-yesteryear/
Good times. Good times.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/8/2015 @ 11:44 pmOut of curiosity. When the next debate comes up will Lindsay Graham, establishment extraodinaire, be asked if his statement that it would be better if Hillary won than see Trump in the Whitehouse?
Drider (340c7b) — 8/9/2015 @ 3:13 amMost everyone already suspects even though they will not say it out loud that the establishment would indeed rather see Hillary in the Whitehouse should Graham, Bush, or Kaish not win it.
Trump is a thin-skinned crybaby. Getting flippant with a moderator in the heat of the moment is one thing. It can be obnoxious and make one look bad, but it’s understandable from a human nature perspective. Whining about tough questions off-stage and then complaining about a moderator from the safety of Twitter, however, is something else. Not exactly an indicator of being the tough talker that Trump claims to be. It’s the kind of garbage Obama and other far left liberals pull. If Trump can’t hack a few difficult questions in a GOP debate, imagine how he’d fair in the big time.
And that “I meant nose” line is the epitome of pathetic. Even if you believe he did mean “nose” (and really, given what a foul-mouthed jerk he is, why should you?), it’s such a lame excuse. “I just forgot what a nose is called is all, so make me the leader of the free world.” ‘Course, it’s right in line with Mr. “I stand by what I say and never apologize, but now I’ll clarify the remarks I stand by and won’t apologize for.” Methinks someone in Team Trump was doing some internal polling over the last couple days and got very nervous. Couple that with Trump’s widely panned debate performance and no wonder there’s talk of shaking up the campaign and “rebooting” it. Sheesh, the guy’s taking plays from Hillary’s book now.
You can complain all you want about an obsession with political correctness, but the fact is, Megyn Kelly asked Trump about quotes that would be thrown in his face if he ever managed to get the nomination. He could’ve used the opportunity to show how he’d handle himself in a tough spot; instead, he acted like a rank amateur and smug doofus. Worse, he handed the Left a lot of new quotes that would be used against him. That can be devastating to a candidate even in the most ideal of conditions. If you don’t believe me, feel free to look up Todd Akin and see how it cost him a Senate seat.
Giving the other side ammo to use against you? What a tone-deaf moron. Trump doesn’t have the smarts to run a sandwich stand, let alone the country.
tops116 (d094f8) — 8/9/2015 @ 4:01 amtrump would be much much better for america than electing hyper-entitled trash like the jeb bush or the hillary clinton i think
and i think that’s why he’ll be able to hang in there in the race for a good while
happyfeet (831175) — 8/9/2015 @ 4:48 amas long as he wants to anyways
he’s a businessman
if he finds he’s devaluing his brand
or if he’s spending more than it’s worth
he’ll bail i think
after this he should start a sammich chain i think
happyfeet (831175) — 8/9/2015 @ 5:15 ammake mine trump-style! the hungry peeps will say
and don’t skimp on the fixins!
happyfeet (831175) — 8/9/2015 @ 5:19 amYou’re crossing a bridge over the Chicago River and you see Hillary, Jeb and Trump drowning, and there’s only one life preserver in the red box. What will you order for lunch?
nk (dbc370) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:11 amfalafel wrap ftw!
happyfeet (831175) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:12 amThis is how you should want your President:
nk (dbc370) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:20 am“All the time the fight was goin’ on Nobby was mutterin’ to himself an’ sayin’ the mos’ awful things about Soomsy [the commanding officer] you have ever heard.
….
“‘I wouldn’t mind bein’ knocked out,’ sez Nobby, ‘if only I had the feelin’ that I was dyin’ in good company, but to be commanded bv a flat-footed recruit….’
“He occupied his time this way every now an’ then, lookin’ over his shoulder to scowl at Soomsy, who was as calm as if he was watchin’ a football match.
“‘The Army,’ sez Nobby, shootin’ viciously at the wood whenever he saw a helmet, ‘is goin’ to the dogs. Who’d ever ‘ave thought that a pie- faced—’
“Suddenly we heard old Soomsy shout;
“‘I’m goin’ for that wood, boys—with the bayonet. Who’ll follow me?’
“Nobby was up in a second.
“‘Me, sir,’ he sez.”
Trump is a fighter and a not wuss like 99% of the repubs in congress or running for POTUS. Cruz is also a fighter, but Trump, for now, has more of the spotlight. I hope he gives more than he takes from the establishment repubs/dhimmicrats.
OneForJustice (8c365e) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:59 amtrump 2016 fighter not wuss
follow donald where he’s leading even if your hoo hoo’s … strongly suggesting you make a different decision
happyfeet (831175) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:09 amI was listening to FOX this morning and George Pataki stated he thought Trump was “not qualified” to be President. That’s always bothered me because nobody is qualified to be President unless he already has been. I mean, look at the dumbass in there now. And he’s on his second term which means by my own definition he should have become qualified the second time around but he’s still a horrible dumbass. I think what I’m looking for is the person who seems the best chance at not being another dumbass. That means absolutely no Trump. I’m sure as time moves forward the people or the candidates themselves will do the elimination. We need to concentrate on the one truth: we must not allow another anti-American socialist in the White House regardless of what we have to do. I’m not sure America can survive at this point but I know we can’t survive another leftist.
Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie (f4eb27) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:20 amOh, and BTW, the very worst Republican is better than the very best democrat, period! The democrat party has gone so radical left there is no help for them.
Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie (f4eb27) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:23 amHow can you be worse than a traitor such as boehner, mcconnell and the rest of the big tent losers.
mg (31009b) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:57 amTrump purchased a hamster skin coat last week and went to the county fair. It took the authorities three hours to get him off the Ferris wheel.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:58 amsophisticated nonsense
mg (31009b) — 8/9/2015 @ 8:00 amelection ego
sickofrinos
Trump is a flamer, who’ll ultimately burn himself.
Comanche Voter (1d5c8b) — 8/9/2015 @ 8:09 amTrump is neither Conservative nor Republican.
And Vidkun Quisling was worse than Adolph Hitler.
John Hitchcock (b36fdb) — 8/9/2015 @ 8:27 amthe campaign to win the nomination for the office of POTUS isn’t American Idol and it’s not The Apprentice. Debate moderators are supposed to ask tough questions and candidates are supposed to provide answers. The easily riled show themselves to be unfit for any office higher than student body president of the local high school, if that. And that is just for starters, before positions on tough issues are even taken into consideration.
The last few days have been yuuuuuuugely ridiculous.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/9/2015 @ 8:48 amAlonzo:
Trump did not say “Mexicans are rapists”. Claiming that he did automatically discredits anything you have to say.
Milhouse (a04cc3) — 8/9/2015 @ 8:53 amverdict rendered from lofty perch…
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/9/2015 @ 9:00 am“… apoplexy as a substitute for argument”… lol
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/9/2015 @ 9:05 amMD:
That doesn’t work. If these companies were unable to raise their prices before they lost the money Trump owed them, then what would make them suddenly able to do so after? Unless all their competitors were equally hit by the bankruptcy, the market would not allow them to raise their prices; they either absorbed the loss and went on, or they went under and someone else took their place.
Milhouse (a04cc3) — 8/9/2015 @ 9:06 am“…there is no frontrunner and there won’t be a Republican race to speak of until this… ([chooses words carefully] coarse and vulgar man who is at the center of this argument is marginalized.”
– George Will
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/9/2015 @ 9:13 amMy problem is I don’t watch CNN. Ever. Not even by accident with a stray channel surf.
Only a vague idea of who what when and where a Don Lemon is.
He is Meghan Kelly’s direct time slot competition. Hungry competitor. Barely registering on the map. If you want to smack Kelly across the nose that’s where you go.
Oh how Don Lemon must have jumped at the chance to have his name appear on the same page as Meghan Kelly (someplace besides the TV guide). Like catnip Lemon would lap that up.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/9/2015 @ 9:28 amWhen you think about it like that it’s a smart play.
The Donald is using the bully pulpit, and he hasn’t even been elected yet.
Why is almost everyone referring to Fiorina by her first name, but to all her competitors by their surnames? I know I’m not on first name terms with her, and I doubt everyone else is.
This is a phenomenon I’ve noticed for a long time. Of course the same thing is happening with Clinton.
Milhouse (a04cc3) — 8/9/2015 @ 9:30 amI’ve seen Fiorina referred to as Fiorino a bit. Could have been a spelling error, or a derogatory comment. Carly is easier to type spell remember.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/9/2015 @ 9:34 amMost everyone already suspects even though they will not say it out loud that the establishment would indeed rather see Hillary in the Whitehouse should Graham, Bush, or Kaish not win it.
Which indicates a strangely snooty, left-leaning approach to who should be the next occupant to run the White House. The current resident has so low lowered the bar, that hand-wringing over the traditional qualifications of his successor — certainly without also focusing on the damage and idiocy that leftist sentiment incubates in a president — now seems almost quaint and naive.
BTW, Ronald Reagan’s (ie, Iran-Contra) and the 2 Bushes (“read my lips…” and a tolerance of bloated budgets, etc) biggest blunders can be traced to when their inner-liberal voice said “hey, gimme some attention and love!”
Mark (a467c8) — 8/9/2015 @ 9:41 amWord is LCDR White will not be facing charges for bringing his personal weapon to the Chattanooga gunfight.
I credit the JOPA, although technically an O4 is not covered. But still, BS is BS.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/9/2015 @ 10:02 amBeldar:
I understand what you mean, and even agree with you, but htere’s something incongruous about using the term “hallowed” for a practise whose very name declares its illegitimacy. A filibuster is an act of piracy; that’s what the word means. It’s the minority holding the senate to ransom in order to get its way, by taking advantage of what was originally an unintentional loophole in the rules. But I do understand what you mean.
Milhouse (a04cc3) — 8/9/2015 @ 10:20 amWhat do you mean “back”? The Dems never touched the legislative filibuster. They only got rid of the filibuster on judicial nominations (other than Supreme Court ones). What you mean is that people expected McConnell to go farther than Reid did, and abolish the filibuster altogether. Well, he chose not to.
Milhouse (a04cc3) — 8/9/2015 @ 10:24 amEffin’ eh.
https://scontent-dfw1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/s720x720/10661897_693561877391860_5924665539096430397_o.jpg
Sundowners!
We would have won the 1992 fighter derby if VF-2 didn’t crush our Sedan de Ville with a tank.
B@st@rds.
Had we read the rules more carefully, we would have noticed that armored vehicles weren’t explicitly banned from the fighter car competition.
The keg in the trunk with the tap on the fender should have put us over the top.
Plus with the horn that said “eat me.”
http://flyawaysimulation.com/images/downloadshots/5092-f14-vf111-sundownerszip-1-miss-molly-f-14a.jpg
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/9/2015 @ 10:28 amMilhouse (a04cc3) — 8/9/2015 @ 9:06 am
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 8/9/2015 @ 10:31 ammaybe you are quoting something that was once said in my direction, but otherwise I don’t understand why you address that to me.
my business sense is such that if I ever wanted to start one, I would hire Rev. Hoagie to run it and let him take 95% of the profit as pay.
The senate never had that role on nominations, since the House has no say on them. That role has only ever referred to legislation, and Reid never did anything to it.
Not mandated or even contemplated.
The filibuster was never part of the scheme of limited government. It arose out of a mistake in the senate rules, which went uncorrected for so long that it became customary.
Milhouse (a04cc3) — 8/9/2015 @ 10:37 amMD, sorry, I meant to type Beldar.
Milhouse (a04cc3) — 8/9/2015 @ 10:38 amMilhouse (#251 & #252), you’re right about the incongruity. Indeed, the filibuster was not part of the checks-and-balances written into the Constitution; but the Founders did create other means by which one branch of government could “hold hostage” another as part of their system of limited federal government. I’m guessing you’ve probably read Robert Caro’s Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson III, a very long book that contains a spectacular — and plot-essential — explication of the filibuster’s history. If not, I recommend it to you.
Reid’s claim that the Dems only abolished the filibuster for non-SCOTUS judicial nominations can only be credited, though, by those who also believe me when I claim that I’m only peeing in my own part of the swimming pool. It’s a convenient fiction that the Dems will discard when the have the power again and it suits them. It was the bait for suckers like Mitch McConnell, and he lived up to their fondest expectations and my worst fears of him.
Kevin M (#183): You’re absolutely right, “the Democratic Party left me” was indeed Reagan’s classic one-liner explaining his party switch. He could — and frequently did — explain the details behind that assertion, though, at length, with passion, and with very specific examples of each step that the Democratic Party had taken down that diverging path.
Trump’s spectacularly insincere and probably spectacularly ignorant invocation of Reagan is more chum in the water for suckers. When he delivered that line, my poor dog had to run out of the house through the doggy doors because he thought, from my shout of dismay and disbelief, that I was angry at him instead of the scoundrel in the good suit with the bad hair on TV.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/9/2015 @ 10:42 amNot my squadron. Still, mucho respect.
http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/corsair-takeoff-vf-17-jolly-rogers-mark-karvon.jpg
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/ea/4a/0d/ea4a0d9bfd0c400e21bc145140237b1d.jpg
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/9/2015 @ 11:03 amAt least a Trump isn’t a Texan, Beldar. We’ve had our share of political scoundrels but fortunately our current crop is pretty good.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 11:05 amI can not believe they retired the F-14.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2728/4061047415_aa98a943f4_z.jpg
Still, the legend lives on.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/9/2015 @ 11:06 amKarl Denninger at Market-Ticker.org has two different articles, both Aug 8th, about the Trump – Megyn Kelly – RedState kerfuffle.
Short version: The folks who “heard” anti-woman-sexism from what Trump said are demonstrating that the ‘anti-woman-sexism’ is IN THEIR OWN HEADS. What they *assume* he *intended* may well be sexist and demeaning, BUT — that’s only their personal assumption; it isn’t what he said.
Also Megyn’s attempted “gotcha” and RedState’s attempted “Behold — We Declare That Donald Trump Is Not The Proper Kind Of Candidate For Decent Americans Like You” have fallen flat.
=~snerk~=
More popcorn, please.
A_Nonny_Mouse (cc1ec4) — 8/9/2015 @ 11:41 amDRJ (#259), we’re in complete accord about that! If I search my knowledge of Texas political history to find a parallel to The Donald, I have to go all the way back to Pappy O’Daniel — although I think Pappy probably comes off the better of the two in the comparison.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/9/2015 @ 11:50 amThat’s not “holding hostage”, it’s a legitimate part of the system. If legislation requires the president’s approval, and he doesn’t approve of it, he’s not filibustering, he’s legitimately exercising his right to stop what he considers a bad law. The filibuster is called that precisely because it’s illegitimate, an act of piracy, a minority, whose consent to legislation is not required, holding the whole senate hostage.
No, it’s a fact; they didn’t abolish the legislative filibuster, as evidenced by the fact that they sat back and did nothing when the Rs filibustered. There were predictions that they might do so in the future, if ever a bill came up that was really important to them. And so they might have, eventually, had they kept the senate; and so they might again, when they next retake it. But that remains speculation. It’s a fact that for the past 200 years any senate majority could have done so, but none did, because they were all thinking of the next time they were in the minority.
Milhouse (a04cc3) — 8/9/2015 @ 12:14 pmBecause they had the support of solid majorities in both houses, and of the president. There’s no reason they shouldn’t have passed. But the Rs in Congress can’t pass any legislation on their own; they need either the president, or enough Ds to override him.
Milhouse (a04cc3) — 8/9/2015 @ 12:19 pmI don’t understand your point. Cornyn was correct; just because cloture passed didn’t necessarily mean she’d be confirmed, and Cruz should have stuck around for the confirmation vote.
Milhouse (a04cc3) — 8/9/2015 @ 12:28 pmMilhouse (#263), this is off-topic; I’m at fault for starting down that path, but this is as far as I intend to continue down it. One can draw a principled distinction between the filibuster as applied to presidential appointments and treaties, and as applied to legislative and other matters on which the Senate is acting in its normal legislative function rather than in a constitutional “advice & consent” or approval function. I’ve made that distinction myself before, when I was arguing that the GOP ought to employ the “nuclear option” when Dems were filibustering all of Dubya’s judicial appointments.
But you cannot make any principled distinction between filibustering SCOTUS nominees and lower-court nominees.
That tells you that Harry Reid’s attempted distinction is not a sincere one, not a principled one — even if that were the only piece of evidence, the only data point, available to us for assessing Harry Reid’s principle and sincerity. And it’s not.
Only a sucker believes that the Dems haven’t already killed the filibuster. Mitch McConnell is that sort of sucker, and he’s led enough of the old-school GOP senators who want to pretend that they’re still living in Lyndon Johnson’s senate during Dwight Eisenhower’s presidency into going along with them that the GOP majority in the U.S. Senate has become almost meaningless. That is why I blame Mitch McConnell, more than anyone else, for the spectacular frustration and rage that’s propelling Donald Trump’s polling numbers.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/9/2015 @ 12:31 pmShorter version: To anyone who thinks it’s mere speculation that the Dems are going to kill what’s left of the filibuster as soon as they’re in the majority again and have a piece of legislation that they really want (something else like Obamacare or Dodd-Frank or the 2009 stimulus), then I have a piece of speculative real estate — a really nice bridge over the East River, from Manhattan to Brooklyn — that I’d like to sell him.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/9/2015 @ 12:36 pmBoehner in the House and McConnell in the Senate, Beldar. The frustration with them is palpable. They need to be replaced with leadership that better appreciates the gravity of our situation. The sooner, the better!
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 8/9/2015 @ 12:50 pmWrong. The book deal was at the beginning of 1995, and it was 100% legitimate. Gingrich was going strong until Clinton shut the government down and somehow manipulated everyone to blame the Republicans. But even after that he continued strong until that phony ethics scandal.
Milhouse (a04cc3) — 8/9/2015 @ 1:09 pmDepends by whom. Clinton treated it as a badge of honor, and no doubt 0bama would do the same.
Milhouse (a04cc3) — 8/9/2015 @ 1:12 pmBut is Trump a Republican? Bloomberg is not, for all that he ran with that label.
Milhouse (a04cc3) — 8/9/2015 @ 1:26 pmGood. But I am not surprised. Charging him would have been insane.
Milhouse (a04cc3) — 8/9/2015 @ 1:31 pmBeldar, I’m not talking about principled distinctions, since there’s nothing principled about the filibuster in the first place. Its very name says it’s illegitimate. But both sides of politics have found it so convenient that they’ve deliberately failed to close the loophole for almost 200 years. The fact is Reid closed it only for non-Supreme Court nominations; the principle behind the distinction was simply that he didn’t want to lose the chance for the Dems to use it for Supreme Court nominations, so he left it open for the Rs to use. But none came up, so this was not tested, and you can say he was insincere, and had one come up he would have closed it for that too.
What you can’t deny, however, is that he didn’t close it for legislation. Your claim that “Only a sucker believes that the Dems haven’t already killed the filibuster” is refuted by the simple fact that they didn’t. The Rs did filibuster legislation, and the Ds did not shut them down. If McConnell were now to shut the Ds down, he would be the one killing it, not they, and when the Rs were next in the minority and found themselves unable to use it they would be blaming him, not Reid.
Milhouse (a04cc3) — 8/9/2015 @ 1:49 pmYes, Milhouse, and Poland really attacked that German radio station in September 1939. Seriously, let’s drop this subject. Sometimes you just want to argue for the sake of arguing. We disagree, we’ve explained why, let’s stop. Okay? 🙂
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/9/2015 @ 1:58 pmI misspoke. I meant to say: I’m stopping.
Beldar (fa637a) — 8/9/2015 @ 2:00 pmTrump is there to help Hillary. Intentionally. With Hillary’s connivance. By dirtying the Republican brand. The inflation of his ego is merely his remuneration for his services and not his motivation. Only a lying closet-Democrat DINO will say otherwise.
nk (dbc370) — 8/9/2015 @ 2:04 pm*RINO*
nk (dbc370) — 8/9/2015 @ 2:05 pmTrump is there to help Hillary.
I’m wary of him because of his Manhattan-cocktail-circuit connections, which must make even a sane, sensible person start to tilt left after awhile. But I’m not quite so cynical to believe it’s necessarily a plot on his part to help the deranged Hillary. Of course, anything is possible.
Personally, I’m no less cynical or suspicious about the nature of Republican insiders like Jeb Bush, or any variation of squish-squishes like him throughout the the party.
Mark (a467c8) — 8/9/2015 @ 2:22 pm@274, I’m glad the guy is off the hook.
Also, I wish I was kidding.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/9/2015 @ 2:23 pmAlso when did macho become a bad word?
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/9/2015 @ 3:28 pmMilhouse 267,
The vote on Lynch’s confirmation was a show vote because only 51 votes were needed to confirm. The real vote was on cloture, where 60 votes were required. Cornyn voted Yes on cloture and No on Lynch’s confirmation, thus making it possible for her to be confirmed.
This is a pattern the GOP leadership has used several times, most recently on Planned Parenthood, so they can convince voters they are “on our side” when they have no intention of winning. They shamelessly helped Reid do the same thing.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 3:43 pmAnd it was at least possible that she wouldn’t get 51 votes.
And you think he shouldn’t have? Why can’t you accept that he honestly opposed her nomination but thought she deserved a vote? Shouldn’t that the default position on every vote? Shouldn’t filibusters (being fundamentally illegitimate uses of power) be reserved for cases where the bill or nomination is so objectionable that it must be stopped by any means?
Milhouse (a04cc3) — 8/9/2015 @ 4:44 pmGetting 60 votes is obviously far harder when you have less than 60 Party votes, and getting 51 votes is comparatively easy when you are in the majority. The reason to vote No on cloture is because you want to win. Cornyn and the establishment clearly didn’t want to win the Lynch confirmation.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 5:05 pmI’m not sure what you are thinking but the GOP controlled the Senate during the Lynch confirmation. McConnell voted for her confirmation along with other Republicans. The cloture vote was the real vote. The confirmation vote was for show so Senators like Cornyn could claim they voted against her and hope most home state voters wouldn’t understand the importance of the cloture vote.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 5:10 pmI think the decorum of the Senate went away when the Democrats used reconciliation to pass ObamaCare. The GOP should do whatever it can do to stop Obama’s policies and appointments, just as the Democrats will do if a Republican is elected.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 5:13 pmDRJ
So if the republicans blocked everything, and Obama started scrapping aircraft carriers bombers tanks, laid off the border patrol etc, how would that look?
Because that’s what he threatened
EPWJ (292641) — 8/9/2015 @ 5:42 pmYes, how would that look? I think it would make Obama look bad.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 5:48 pmObama will back down when people stand up to him, especially if it is an issue that has bipartisan support. The Lynch confirmation could have been stopped at cloture without bipartisan support but Democrats are already wavering on the Iran deal. Will the GOP stand together or not?
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 5:52 pmDRJ
No, he did this and no one cared, got no news coverage, he already cut the army a third, he has demobilized most of the tank fleet, and he has cancelled most of the fleet readiness support which in essence make the navy undeployable for more than a couple of weeks.
Its one thing to govern, and its one thing to talk about purity.
EPWJ (292641) — 8/9/2015 @ 5:56 pmI’m betting not. Are we talking real money bets?
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/9/2015 @ 5:56 pmbecause of the sequester, he himself proposed, which was in keeping with the Iowa Peace Pledge,
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/9/2015 @ 5:58 pmObama is gutting the military because he doesn’t believe in it. Republican opposition has nothing to do with that.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 5:58 pmDRJ
Its hard to come to grips that Ted knew these things and still went on the floor to demagogue, McConnell I no LBJ, but then again Obama is no Eisenhower
EPWJ (292641) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:09 pm?
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:09 pmIt’s Ted Cruz’s fault that Obama has been able to gut the military? This should be interesting.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:13 pmIf Dewhurst had been Senator, how would he have stopped Obama? Be specific.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:14 pmOh, I see. You think Cruz should be a team player like Cornyn and go along with everything leadership wants. How has that worked out so far? What has the Senate leadership done to stand up to Obama?
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:17 pmOh, for the sake of f@ck.
JD (34f761) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:26 pmvishnu, pazuzu, baal,
now the rest of the story
http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelledeen/2015/08/09/schumer-and-the-secrets-of-iran/
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:28 pmDRJ
Really, the senate has rejected everything he proposed, however, they cannot stop him from appointing people, scrapping the military or shutting down the government. It maybe of some interest that there are three branches of government and the don’t report to Ted.
If I remember correctly you voted for Ma Richards and Ross Perot, Ted Cruz is not electable, he knows it everyone else knows it. But you think that restating what is going on in DC in the most favorable light is a help to Ted, maybe so, but the harder you push the more the vast GOP establishment is not going to vote for him.
What is his plan to get the squishy middle that he has already called un-American traitor to vote for him? Or the massive number of Hispanics he has threatened their kinsman with arrest and deportation.
Do you really think that bull is going to fly, seriously? Yes we all want conservative things and the best way to turn America more conservative Is to talk about job creation for everyone – he and everyone else needs to focus on that and national security. People turn conservative when they have a good job and have to pay taxes, that turns people conservative
Ted if he wants to win cant run against the republican senate = its a loser
EPWJ (292641) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:29 pmLolololololololololol. Let me catch my breath lolololololololololololol
JD (34f761) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:31 pmDRJ
Please be specific on how Ted is going to get the traitors and the liars to vote for him? This isnt about Dewhurst. I don’t mind that Ted beat Dewhurst, I do mind that he lied about Texas though but getting back to the point, how is Ted going to be elected nationally?
EPWJ (292641) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:35 pmthat goes on the other thread, but the Dubai traveller’s argument clinic, got be too much,
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:36 pmNarcisco
Guy went on national tv and insulted, Hispanics, conservatives. How does that translate to a electable national election. Strategy?
Epwj (292641) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:39 pmI googled the squishy middle being un-American traitors quote, but couldn’t find it.
JD (34f761) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:40 pmEveryone needs to remember that EPWJ’s definition of conservative includes Dede Scozzafava.
JD (6b4d1d) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:41 pmTrump is one note, and he plays it badly, my preference is Carson, Cruz, even Walker,
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:41 pmJD
Eveyone need to keep in mind that DRJ was proud to vote for Bill
Clinton and ma Richards and still with the horrible damage to the country including 9/11 defends it or reminds people she did it.
That and accused two honorable senators of the crime of treason
EPWJ (292641) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:45 pmI voted for Perot.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:47 pmAnd I did not accuse anyone of treason.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:48 pmI’m sure we are nevr going to get an answer on how Ted is going to mend fences with all the republicans and the Hispanics and he moderates (when did he call them traitors again)
Elections are all about insulting mass voting blockss
EPWJ (292641) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:48 pmSigh. This is happening again, JD? Sorry.
Simon Jester (0dd00c) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:48 pmThere are only two possible explanations (as usual) for epwj’s line of “reasoning”:
askeptic (efcf22) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:48 pmHe’s either not getting his Khat, or getting too much of it.
Oh I think there was a comment or two from you accusing them of the crime of treason a while back
EPWJ (292641) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:49 pmthere’s a khat substitute, I’m given to understand,
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:50 pmYou are interesting, EWPJ. Do you think this is an effective way to make your point? Whatever it is.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:50 pmDRJ
No you voted for Bill, that was an established fact, a vote for Perot was vote for bill, this I the same time you voted for Ma Richards correct?
EPWJ (292641) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:51 pmreminded me of this,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xfi4s8cjLFI
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:52 pmOh for the sake of f@ck. you made up DRJ’s voting record. You made up a story about Cruz calling the mushy middle un-American traitors. The list of things you have made up is practically endless. Seek help.
JD (34f761) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:53 pmEPWJ,
Do you think establishment voters are going to sit this election out if Cruz is the nominee?
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:53 pmDRJ
Yes y point I fairly obvious right? How is Ted having supporters like you are here, defaming republicans going to heal the divide to get him elected president? If that’s your goal, with your recent history of voting democrat and keep reminding people that you did, going to accomplish anything for Ted?
Also how is this helping sure I’m frustrated, totally pissed with what goes on in Washington and wanted still want term limits for every elected position and limits on federal judges.
If you want to get him elected truly do, then how I he going to do it?
EPWJ (292641) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:56 pmI voted for Perot because I was worried about the national debt, which seems laughable now given what Obama has done. A vote for Perot was not a vote for Clinton.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:57 pmWWhat is his plan to get the squishy middle that he has already called un-American traitor to vote for him? Or the massive number of Hispanics he has threatened their kinsman with arrest and deportation.
Perhaps the extreme mediocrity and deranged liberalism of the current president is starting to finally seep through the noggins of a larger cross-section of Americans, subtly, unconsciously affecting even a variety of those who are staunch non-conservatives.
Trump has a history of being a squish himself, or certainly has never been seen as a dyed-in-the-wool conservative, so independents and wobbly Democrats may sense that about him and deal with him accordingly.
Mark (a467c8) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:57 pmRather than deal with this person, DRJ, I do think that the MSM can impact how voters perceive candidates—independent of the truth. Add to that narcissistic pride: how you feel about yourself, having voted for a person.
The result was 2008 and 2012. Both ways. People voted for Obama to feel good about themselves. They didn’t vote for McCain or Romney for the same reason. Neither viewpoint is based on anything other than emotions.
I have always, always voted for the lesser of two evils. I would worry if I was excited about voting for a candidate. In that direction lies political idolatry.
The funny part, of course, is that viewpoint gets me labeled as a “squish”
I’m very worried about this next election. Though it does seem like “purity” is invading the Democrat viewpoint, as seen from Bernie Saunders Fever.
Simon Jester (0dd00c) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:58 pmDRJ
Sadly enough will, I wont I will support him raise money for him and be more loyal to him than he was to us ten thousand fold.
EPWJ (292641) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:58 pmIf you plan to sit out the next election if you don’t like the nominee, why do you care what I think?
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:59 pm^ Strike that. I thought EPWJ was dealing with Trump. My bad. LOL.
Mark (a467c8) — 8/9/2015 @ 6:59 pmWe can disagree on who should lead the Party and leave it at that.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:00 pmEPWJ -‘please document DRJ support of Dems, calling conservatives traitors, and where Cuz called the mushy middle unamerican traitors.
JD (34f761) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:00 pmDRJ
You knew and I think admitted it here that a vote for Perot was a direct vote for bill, really this nonsense isn’t going to rehabilitate any perceived perceptions so its probably best to not keep mentioning it.
EPWJ (292641) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:01 pm“DRJ
Sadly enough will, I wont I will support him raise money for him and be more loyal to him than he was to us ten thousand fold.”
English, please?!
JD (34f761) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:02 pmJD
Why don’t you document all your claims first? Then we can go forward…..
We have been waiting years for your documentation….
DRJ has a simple question, how can running against republicans win a national election?
EPWJ (292641) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:03 pmNow you attribute something else to her that she never said, and then want to whine and drop the subject because you got called out for lying about her views. Precious.
JD (34f761) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:03 pmJD
I know you try to get personal, its what you do. Its all you do..
EPWJ (292641) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:04 pmSadly, EPWJ, your addled mind is the one making false claims. Cruz never said what you claim. DRJ never said or did the things you claim. Those are lies that you chose to simply make up.
JD (34f761) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:04 pmI did not make this personal. You made up lies and attributed them to DRJ and Cruz. And got called out on it. Now you are just tossing out word salad gibberish trying to change the subject for your lies.
JD (34f761) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:06 pmSimon,
I don’t know what to think about Obama’s elections. In 2008, I thought people wanted to believe in him, and it was evidence of Americans’ optimism and willingness to think the best of people. I think 2012 was due to the same plus a DC turnout machine that may have benefited from Obama’s access to government-owned ted data. I refuse to believe the majority of Americans are stupid or clueless about what Obama and the Democrats are doing to our country, but I may revise my opinion depending on the outcome of the next election.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:07 pmJD
DRJ brought some interesting arguments, she has been mildly challenged for voting for the Clintons and for Ma Richards and how is that going to convince people to vote for her candidate? How can we trust the judgment of someone’ opinions that voted for the worst politicians in recent history?
EPWJ (292641) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:08 pmEPWJ also claimed Texas was going to lower its speed limit for big trucks to 50 miles per hour. And that all the states had slow speed limits for big trucks, calling me a liar in the process. I drive a big truck, and more roadway is being turned 80 for trucks and cars, not 50 for trucks and 80 for cars.
John Hitchcock (7b3f16) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:08 pmEPWJ – that is a lie, and you are a liar. It is objectively a lie and you know it, yet persist in doing so.
JD (34f761) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:10 pmJohn – the list of things he knows to be true but simply aren’t so is practically endless. Just go back to the Palin and Scozzafava threads.
JD (34f761) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:11 pmI’ve said before that I don’t think Perot gave Clinton the election, and I know I said it other times, too. I’ve always said that so you must have confused me with someone else, EPWJ.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:12 pmIt’s like that whole Mexican border shooting a couple years back when he was accusing Texas lawyers of not knowing Texas law as well as he did. And accusing the LEOs of things they didn’t do.
John Hitchcock (7b3f16) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:14 pmJD
I have documented stuff for you in the past and note that you are a disingenuous person who mocks my private life and does everything you can to do whatever you are trying to accomplish.
DRJ brought up again that she voted for Perot – I didn’t – she is bringing up again that senators are the same as democrats etc etc etc.
DRJ isn’t answering the question should be what Is the issue – I always answer her as much as possible.
But Ted supporters are blinding themselves if they think that nominating someone with no plan for America other than speeches is going to be a winner
EPWJ (292641) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:14 pmDRJ, you might be right. But the preening self congratulatory narcissism I see every day on campus gives me great sadness.
People—and not just students—parrot slogans. And mostly it is about feeling smart and cool about themselves…not the issues.
A nation of Jon Stewarts.
But I hope you are right.
Simon Jester (0dd00c) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:17 pmJohn
How is that compare to DRJ voting for Ma Richards and Bill Clinton? Twice..
EPWJ (292641) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:17 pmYour claim was that she voted for the Clintons, which is objectively false. A lie. Dishonest.
JD (34f761) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:17 pmA well-known liar is accusing JD of being disingenuous? That’s just precious.
John Hitchcock (7b3f16) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:17 pmSince she did not vote for Bill Clinton even once, you are still lying. And it is so very obvious. You are a liar, and not even a good liar.
John Hitchcock (7b3f16) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:18 pmthis is what arguing with the Honey Badger is like,
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:19 pmThe Mexican border, with the Border Patrol and the rocks and EPWJ’s lies and demagoguery and attacks on Texas lawyers.
John Hitchcock (7b3f16) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:20 pmAt 7:14 you acknowledge that she voted for Perot. At 7:17 you lie and claim she voted for the Clintons twice.
JD (34f761) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:21 pmDo not even get me started on death threats, throwing rocks, and border patrols.
JD (34f761) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:22 pmI refuse to believe the majority of Americans are stupid or clueless about what Obama and the Democrats are doing to our country, but I may revise my opinion depending on the outcome of the next election.
I used to think Americans, or at least enough of them, were somewhat immune to Euro-sclerosis or the socio-political illness affecting nations like Venezuela, Mexico or Argentina. I don’t believe that any longer.
Even though November 2016 should be an open-and-shut case — and win — for the Republicans, it’s not. That very fact is evident in all the pundits, bookies/odds-makers and expert political analysts giving the winning edge to a horror like Hillary. Such an assumption boggles the mind, but it’s there in all its debased glory.
Mark (a467c8) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:22 pmYou see, EPWJ, there are several of us who know your long, sordid history here. And you have never repented of your disgraceful behavior.
John Hitchcock (7b3f16) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:23 pmWe are a divided nation, Simon, especially when it comes to values and the best economic system. I hope most Americans see the good of more traditional ways. At least this election may help us find out if that’s true.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:25 pmActually, DRJ, I don’t think so. I think that “bumper sticker” thinking has taken hold. There is a LOT to think about and consider these days, it’s true. But I remember students—smart, hardworking females—nearly in tears with the idea that Romney would win and “take away their abortion rights.”
As an XY, I didn’t have the heart to ask them what Romney had ever said about making abortion illegal in all cases.
Or another young woman who told me she adored “Hill-rod” as she called HRC. I asked her to name two specific accomplishments that the individual had made. Embarrassed silence.
Again, I truly believe that many people vote in a fashion to make themselves feel “cool” and “hip.” They base that on media. So what we need are folks on the right who are those things.
It is amusing to ask how they feel about older people running for office. Students always tell me that is bad. And then realize…
But obviously, my job is not to change anyone’s mind about politics.
Simon Jester (0dd00c) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:30 pmCan you elaborate? Are you saying you don’t think we’re divided?
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:33 pmAre you saying people are mostly single-issue voters?
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:34 pmDRJ, I think that the media types have done a great job of finding “hot button” issues and pushing them at different groups to form a bloc.
I have seen very intelligent friends of mine be completely hypocritical on issues depending on D versus R. That is purely due to media programming.
Glenn Reynolds has pointed out that the Right has allowed the Left to control the media. And they pretty much do.
It would do every student a lot of good to read “Animal Farm.”
An interesting sidenote. The book “The Giver” is a YA novel that resonates with young people distrusting authority (as they should). When the movie came out, the critics went after it. Why? They like people to do what they are told.
So long as the right people are doing the telling.
Simon Jester (0dd00c) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:49 pmSimon – my favorite example of cognitive dissonance are those that rail against the man and institutions yet their solutions are more intrusive and bigger government.
JD (3898b3) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:56 pmBut I remember students—smart, hardworking females
When I see younger adults expressing liberal sentiments, I tend to take that in stride. Naivete and big-heart-emotional or down-with-the-man thinking and voting in such people go with the territory. But when I see much older folks, such as 54-year-old Barack or 67-years-old Hillary, reflecting a similar mindset, I can’t help but shake my head and think “arrested development.”
When a person’s left-leaning philosophy hasn’t changed much or any even after decades of experience and personal observation — much less that person being fully aware of hard facts and figures — that has to be a case of various humans being hard-wired (genetically) in terms of ideology.
Mark (a467c8) — 8/9/2015 @ 7:58 pmThe “human nullset” has been at it on this blog for over 5 years. SSDD for EPWJ.
John Hitchcock (7b3f16) — 8/9/2015 @ 8:01 pmSimon,
Feel free to ignore this because it’s a borderline rant. I think young people like to simplify things because they feel so overwhelmed with decisions and challenges. Making hard choices into simple choices is a way for them to feel in control. It’s especially easy to rely on simple choices in college, because they don’t face many real decisions or challenges.
Some of these young people will find careers and partners and lead lives where they have the continued luxury of simple choices, but most of them won’t. I feel sorry for the ones who live those simple lives. It’s much more satisfying to make hard decisions and face challenges, and thereby experience real control. It’s the difference between the liberal myth of society that is like a wagon train, and the conservative myth of a society composed of rugged individualists — as explained by Paul Begala:
I bet no one ever expected me to quote Paul Begala.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 8:10 pmYou probably voted for Begala
JD (34f761) — 8/9/2015 @ 8:32 pmDRJ, I’ve seen you link and quote all sorts of kooks. My question is, how did you ever find a semi-lucid statement from Begala to quote?
John Hitchcock (7b3f16) — 8/9/2015 @ 8:48 pmOf course “rock-throwing” would be unnecessary if half the country did not spend so much time throwing rocks at people who simply disagree with a top-down, government approach to solving all problems.
Bless their hearts.
Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 8/9/2015 @ 8:53 pmDHAKA, Bangladesh – Police on Sunday killed six suspected tiger poachers in the world’s largest mangrove forest in southwestern Bangladesh, home to critically endangered Royal Bengal tigers.
Keeping the Bangladesh safe for me and my homies.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/9/2015 @ 8:55 pmI ran across that article when I was trying to remember the name of the cartoon character that Begala lost to in his bid to be UT Student Body President.
PS to JD — Heh. I graduated years before Begala attended UT but I know I would have voted for the cartoon character, not Begala, although EPWJ might differ. Joke candidates is a UT tradition that continues to this day.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 8:58 pmYou all see these?
Trump at CPAC 2011
Trump at CPAC 2015
His message hasn’t been variable or squishy, as lots and lots of people have advertised.
It’s been consistent, at least for four years.
Where’s that guy calling him a squish? What’s that based on?
papertiger (c2d6da) — 8/9/2015 @ 9:01 pmBegala likes that liberal myth because he’s really thought it through. I notice he hasn’t put the same effort into fleshing out the conservative myth. But he loves Texas, as evidenced by the fact he named his kids after Texas heroes. So he’s got that going for him.
DRJ (1dff03) — 8/9/2015 @ 9:02 pmErickson sensitivity fatwa, is an area worthy of consideration,
narciso (ee1f88) — 8/9/2015 @ 9:08 pmDRJ – that proves you are a Clinton supporter. Twice.
JD (34f761) — 8/9/2015 @ 9:24 pmOut on errands, DRJ, but always pleased to see your posts. I can only comment on the young people with whom I work. They are all about mottoes and stereotypes.
I’m not invested in being right. I hope I am wrong, in fact.
Simon Jester (63e1aa) — 8/9/2015 @ 11:02 pmSpeaking of Trump speaking of things, he stepped on his crank very badly when he said or implied that if McCain was a hero it was only because he got shot down.
Attention to Citation:
http://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=23680
Trump needlessly angered me because John McCain did deserve his DFC.
I hate being put in this position, but I have to defend John McCain.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/11/2015 @ 2:15 amThere is no slack in light attack.
By all accounts John McCain walked the walk.
Steve57 (5a07a9) — 8/11/2015 @ 2:18 am