[guest post by Dana]

Donald Trump, during a speech in South Carolina, said this:

“Common Core we’re gonna keep.”

Re: https://t.co/9Sn7LLBCum pic.twitter.com/pU5u1hJ21f

— Josh Perry (@MrJoshPerry) February 11, 2016

Which is confusing, because last night while giving his victory speech in New Hampshire, he said this:

We’re getting rid of Common Core. We’re going to educate our children…

(at the 10:15 mark)

Trump defenders are saying that he just misspoke and that there was more to the speech than just the sound bite. I tend to agree with Amanda Carpenter:

Trump will say whatever the moment calls for. Which leads me to Ted Cruz’s new campaign ad which is aimed at Trump, the action figure who pretends to be a Republican:

I don’t think it’s as good as his previous ads, but it clearly makes the point that Trump is the Great Pretender who speaks out of both sides of his mouth. Which is funny because that is essentially the gist of Trump’s new ad aimed at Cruz in “What Kind of Man”. In this ad, Cruz is portrayed as the “worst kind of Washington insider”:

Of course it matters not a whit to loyal Trump supporters that the accusations brought forth in this ad have been handily debunked or explained.

–Dana

FURTHER THOUGHTS BY PATTERICO: Trump very likely had a brain fart there, enabled by the fact that he doesn’t even know what Common Core is. But here’s the real problem: Trump tried to cover it up by claiming he was talking about Jeb Bush’s policy:

I was referring to the fact that Jeb Bush wants to keep common core.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2016

That is a lie and Trump is a liar. The Right Scoop has the full context of his remarks and he was in no way, shape or form talking about Jeb Bush at that moment.

I had at least one person I usually like getting upset with me and calling me a “horse’s ass” on Twitter for pointing this out.

@Patterico i think you're being a horse's ass and I wish to end this silly microparsing horseshit.

— The Scandalous DJT (@AceofSpadesHQ) February 11, 2016

(It’s OK, I’m a big boy, I can take it.) But when Trump lies, we have to call him on it. We can’t keep holding him to a different standard than others because we think he’s a buffoon. I plan to flesh this argument out in the future, but I’m sticking a flag in the ground here for now.

As Allahpundit noted on Twitter, nationalism and socialism won last night.

What could possibly go wrong?

J.K. Trotter at Gawker (I know) continues to show how flacks to Hillary Clinton were able to dictate to big-name journalists exactly how they would write their stories.

The latest reveal deals with Marc Ambinder, then of The Atlantic, who wrote Clinton spokeshole Phillippe Reines to ask for a copy of Hillary Clinton’s upcoming speech. Reines told Ambinder he could provide a copy on two conditions, to which Ambinder replied “ok.” Reines then wrote:

From: [Philippe Reines]
Sent: Wednesday, July 15 2009 10:06 AM
To: Ambinder, Marc
Subject: Re: Do you have a copy of HRC’s speech to share?

3 [conditions] actually

1) You in your own voice describe them as “muscular”

2) You note that a look at the CFR seating plan shows that all the envoys — from Holbrooke to Mitchell to Ross — will be arrayed in front of her, which in your own clever way you can say certainly not a coincidence and meant to convey something

3) You don’t say you were blackmailed!

Ambinder replied: “got it” — and like a dutiful little scribe, he complied with every request:

When you think of President Obama’s foreign policy, think of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. That’s the message behind a muscular speech that Clinton is set to deliver today to the Council on Foreign Relations. The staging gives a clue to its purpose: seated in front of Clinton, subordinate to Clinton, in the first row, will be three potentially rival power centers: envoys Richard Holbrooke and George Mitchell, and National Security Council senior director Dennis Ross.

Ambinder has taken a lot of criticism for this, and deservedly so. But lost in the shuffle has been Mike Allen of Politico. There are no emails showing a similar demand being made of Allen. But check out the opening of Allen’s piece about the same speech:

In a muscular first major address as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton warns adversaries on Wednesday that they “should never see America’s willingness to talk as a sign of weakness to be exploited.”

The seating! Don’t forget the seating, Mike!

A look at the CFR’s guest seating chart shows that arrayed in the front row will be top members of her team — the envoys she has called her “force multipliers”: Richard Holbrooke, George Mitchell, Dennis Ross, Philip Goldberg and Stephen Bosworth.

We told you to say “a look at the CFR’s guest seating plan,” Mike, not “chart.” It’s a minor quibble. Otherwise, we’re pleased. Holbrooke, Mitchell, Ross. You even got the order right, Mike! Well done!

On Friday, Trotter explained how Reines had once secretly ghostwritten an item on Allen’s blog. In November, Trotter showed that Allen promised positive coverage to Chelsea Clinton and promised to provide his interview questions in advance. “No one besides me would ask her a question, and you and I would agree on them precisely in advance.” The “no surprises” promise he made to Chelsea was common practice for Allen in dealing with Democrats, emails obtained by Trotter have revealed. So the chances that Reines dictated Allen’s coverage of Clinton’s speech are approximately yes it happened . . . give or take.

The fact that these guys still work and don’t get disciplined in any way tells you all you need to know.

Excellent work by Trotter.