Election Results: Depressing
It looks like Cruz crushed Trump in Utah, and Trump handily beat Cruz in Arizona. Trump gets more delegates. Cruz officials, probably remembering Louisiana, were assuring people on Twitter that the election day voters would narrow that gap considerably, showing Cruz’s momentum. But I’m not seeing evidence of it.
This is like an experiment where researchers construct literally the most laughable candidate imaginable, just to see if people vote for him. And when it works, one researcher keeps tweaking the candidate to make it more and more ridiculous, and the second researcher keeps saying “no that’s too much” and the first one says “no I don’t think so. They’ll still vote for him! Watch!” and they do.
I mean, if Hollywood had set out to portray the most cartoonish Republican of their feverish nightmares — pathologically and giddily dishonest, cruelly rude, narcissistic, authoritarian, thuggish, and generally clownish on every level — we’d all be like, “come on, Hollywood! You’re laying it on a little thick here!” And the only difference between their cartoon Republican and reality is that their character would want to slash government rather than grow it. (And I’d also probably vote for the Hollywood version.)
I’m not even sure I’m confident any more that Trump loses to Hillary in the general. I still think he does, because polls. But the thing that bothers me is that, when they ask her about Trump, she gets this smirk on her face. I recognize it. It’s the same one all the Republicans had on their faces, at the beginning of this primary.
Apparently, when your smirk turns into a look that says “holy crap I guess we have to take this walking abomination seriously” it’s too late.
Hillary is an Irwin Allen disaster movie in search of a crash site. I understand why Trump gives many pause, but how anyone on our side could act in furtherance of Hillary astonishes me.
Bugg (db3a97) — 3/23/2016 @ 7:50 amJust imagine if it was the old days when the winner became president and the runner up the vice president.
pinandpuller (928ad9) — 3/23/2016 @ 8:10 amMy sister could beat Hillary. Bill Clinton’s door mat isn’t worth bucket of warm spit. She’s damaged goods.
Hillary is the coldest fish ever to ride up the Potomac River on her husband’s back. She’s victimized her husband’s victims, she’s lied in support of her husband’s lies, she’s helped Barack Obama set the Middle East on fire, she’s lied to the parents of dead Americans she refused to allow rescue forces to help, she covered it all up with threats and intimidation, and she sold US secrets on her unsecured server.
Hillary is so corrupt that even Charles Manson, or Sirhan Sirhan just might be able to beat in a her fat lazy pompous ass in a fair election.
ropelight (1ae4d6) — 3/23/2016 @ 8:11 amis so hard to know about Utah
were they voting *for* Cruz or against the crass exploitation of a young european girl named melania, a girl who had hopes and dreams but who now finds herself to be an object of vicious mockery and scorn
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 8:31 amIt’s Providence.
An America that would seriously contemplate President Trump will get President Trump, and deserve President Trump.
Trump is the instrument (or the tool, shall we say) of divine justice, and Hillary has no chance.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 3/23/2016 @ 8:32 am@pinandpuller:Just imagine if it was the old days when the winner became president and the runner up the vice president.
The Vice-President is also President of the Senate; it seems they intended the Senate to be a check on the President and defined the Vice-President role accordingly. The “running mate” idea came later.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 3/23/2016 @ 8:35 amHow about: the universe really is a computer simulation and the family let their pet monkey play the role of Trump.
It’s plausible. Certainly more plausible than adult Americans voting for a man completely unqualified to be president simply because they’re angry at the world.
Hey, let’s get back at those people who’ve made my life miserable by putting a complete incompetent in charge of my life. That only makes sense if a monkey thought of it.
SteveMG (6f6dc7) — 3/23/2016 @ 8:49 amIn Arizona they had been early voting for three weeks, long before Rubio dropped out. That is what gave Trump his big lead. Now it is more than ever likely this will go to a contested convention and I can’t imagine Trump winning there. But it will be interesting.
Abby Normal (226a28) — 3/23/2016 @ 8:57 amWell I was hoping that Bush crony would have put that evil capitalist away by now but Cruz is having a hard time shaking off the Bush stench.
Pierre (ded32a) — 3/23/2016 @ 8:58 am@SteveMG:Hey, let’s get back at those people who’ve made my life miserable by putting a complete incompetent in charge of my life.
See also Jesse Ventura.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 3/23/2016 @ 8:59 amAt this point I’m for Cruz. I believe Hillary will beat either one of them, largely due to the media’s all out campaign of hate for Republicans, but at least Cruz can possibly educate a few people along the way.
I would like an explanation of why pundits keep saying California is important in the primary, and I wonder, can anyone vote for Repubs? I’m not sure.
Patricia (5fc097) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:02 amTrump will not be the nominee.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:02 am@Patricia:I would like an explanation of why pundits keep saying California is important in the primary,
I’d guess because there are so few Republicans there, and no one has any idea what will happen. They have a lot of delegates up for grabs. Will depend on the candidate’s draw among non-Republicans.
Sacramento Bee:
The election will be unusual for other reasons. GOP primary rules mean that presidential preferences of some California Republicans will count much more than others.
The winner of each congressional district gets three delegates, but those 53 districts have vastly different numbers of Republicans. That means that unlike every other statewide election – in which a vote cast in Redding has the same impact on the outcome as one cast in San Diego – a GOP voter in a Democratic-leaning district will have more impact than one in a district where Republicans dominate.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:05 am@5 Gabriel Hanna
And Senators were originally elected by the state legislatures. I don’t remember studying much about the 17th Ammendment but it doesn’t look that great based on its results, with senators reigning for decades.
pinandpuller (0845e7) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:07 amI don’t think there’s much doubt about Hillary taking home the steak knives. We saw how she did with Blacks last time and I think that promises to be a break-through demographic for Trump this time. Hill’s only true demographic is angry, affluent, educated, post-menopausal, White women like herself and there’s not enough of them.
I have ancestral connections to Idaho, Utah and Texas of which I am now even prouder.
Maybe I’ll vent a little too. There is something sickeningly patronizing about Trump’s baseball cap politicking. How nicely the cap compliments his handmade Italian suits. Worse yet, the schlubs just eat it up. Of course, in the general election he’ll be up against a pol who stakes out her declasse bona fides with a polyester pants suit. America the beautiful!
ThOR (a52560) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:10 am@pinandpuller: I don’t remember studying much about the 17th Ammendment but it doesn’t look that great based on its results, with senators reigning for decades.
The Senate supposedly represented the states, so it made more sense then. Anyway, since no legislature has figured out how to gerrymander a state, in 48 states the Senate elections are much more competitive than the House elections.
I think Congressmen should be selected by lot, like juries.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:11 amI can think black thoughts, too:
Trump is a creature of the Clintons. He was sent forth to ratfu** the GOP and has done so admirably. Only Bill Clinton could have devised such an elegant anti-triangulation of the GOP’s inner divisions.
He will not beat Clinton because *something* will happen in October that will make his candidacy nonviable. As planned. Then he’ll go home and get $150 billion in federal no-bid construction contracts every year.
And all the schmucks who support him will blame Romney. Or Cruz. Or God. Or anyone but themselves.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:11 am@ThOR:pol who stakes out her declasse bona fides with a polyester pants suit.
She ain’t in no ways tahrd.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:11 am“holy crap I guess we have to take this walking abomination seriously”
He’s a Noo Yawker. ‘Conservatives’ cannot lead. And will not follow. They best get out of the way. A pragmatist is about to run them down.
DCSCA (a343d5) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:15 amYou just described both Democrat front runners: Hillary and Donald.
Pons Asinorum (49e2e8) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:18 amBut the fact remains that Arizona was never Cruz’s to win. It was a state where the former governor and popular sheriff were for Trump, and the Feds had just recently stomped all over the state’s attempts to deal with illegals.
It isn’t helped by Cruz’s reliance on television ads. NO ONE UNDER 40 WATCHES TV ADS. Except maybe during the Super Bowl, and even then they’re getting lame. Trump relies on personal appearances and press coverage. He wins because he understands the media. It’s not that he has the best message; he has the ONLY message.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:18 am@kevin M:the Feds had just recently stomped all over the state’s attempts to deal with illegals.
Don’t forget protesters blocking roads, keeping people out of the Mayo Clinic, while on the same day in New York anti-Trump protesters attacked police while calling him racist, sexist, and anti-gay.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:25 am@15 Gabriel Hanna
That’s pretty much like WFB’s theory of pulling names from a phone book.
I think that some congressmen should be hanged like horse thieves.
As a matter of fact I hope DT rides thru Washington like Clint Eastwood thru Lago.
pinandpuller (0845e7) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:28 amIt interesting that so many intelligent people don’t understand WHY this is happening.
It comes down to just two things:
1. Trump believes we should have a real functioning border.
2. Trump realizes the threat we face from Islamic terrorists.
For this election everything else is small stuff.
mark johnson (aa8148) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:29 ammeh it ain’t over
Colonel Haiku (8ebd68) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:29 amuntil it’s really over
and I have a dream
unbelievable
Colonel Haiku (8ebd68) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:33 amhe is balls deep in teh tank
Drudge can kiss my ass
The ‘smirk’ is all in your head. Abusing the defenseless is a goad to get them to quit with the immature Pollyanna streams of consciousness and think about a way forward.
Unification of the Right’s electorate should occupy you’re every thought on that way forward.
DNF (755a85) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:36 amReality TV is setting in for a lot of us.
Dejectedhead (0641d0) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:37 am23. The fat lady has bellowed her last. CA, NY and NJ are out of reach. Stick a for in the Conservative.
DNF (755a85) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:39 amfork
DNF (755a85) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:39 am@16 Kevin M
Or maybe Trump loses the nomination at the convention, goes third party and grabs enough Dem votes to give the presidency to the R candidate.
pinandpuller (928ad9) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:40 amCruz and Rubio could potentially beat Hillary. Trump will lose to Hillary. Republicans vote for Trump, which guarantees another four years of the theft & slavery of Socialism and economic ruin. What am I missing here?
CrustyB (69f730) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:42 amBeing in Sacramento my vote will have the strength of ten men.
I am superman for a day.
Love telling the poll worker that.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:44 am@ mark johnson: You are a classical example of a Trumpkin, at least as you reveal yourself here (#22).
Intelligent people know that Trump has never been someone upon whom anyone can rely. He breaks his promises. Often, he makes mutually inconsistent promises that can’t all be honored, meaning he’s broken them from the moment he makes them. He brags about re-trading every deal. He runs to court — especially bankruptcy court — every time anything goes wrong in any of his deals (which, given that he frequently fails to perform his promises in them, is often), and he always has someone else to blame.
But you — you actually believe his promises. I submit that doesn’t make you intelligent; I don’t know if you are or aren’t (although the evidence here, so far, suggests: not). I concede that there are some other intelligent people who likewise believe Trump’s promises. But that simply shows that a gifted con man can make bigger scores — sometimes easier scores — among intelligent suckers.
Beldar (fa637a) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:45 am@CrustyB:Cruz and Rubio could potentially beat Hillary. Trump will lose to Hillary.
There is no way anyone can possibly know that. The conventional tools and the pundits have been wrong about everything so far.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:46 amI mean, if Hollywood had set out to portray the most cartoonish Republican of their feverish nightmares
If Hollywood had set out to portray the most cartoonish Republican of their dreams, she would probably look a lot like Tina Fey.
WTP (8894aa) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:51 amSaying Cruz or Rubio can beat Hillary, but Trump can’t, reminds me of Spinal Tap’s manager saying that their appeal is more selective.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:51 amit’s just her neutral “resting b!^ch face”.
Not a smirk.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:53 amSee?
Jonah Goldberg is right: no matter what happens from here, the GOP is done as a political party. The best case scenario right now is that the major coalitions are reset, with the GOP splitting off into a Constitutional party favoring smaller government, free trade, low taxes and less regulation for everyone, and a continued robust involvement in foreign affairs; and then a more populist party pushing for less involvement overseas in both trade and foreign policy, and expanded government benefits for middle-class people with higher taxes on high earners. In order to not be consigned to the ash heap of history, the Constitutionalists will have to appeal to urban professionals who otherwise think it’s safe to vote Democrat because of trendy social policies, and the populists will have to peel away the last remaining patriotic blue-collar Democrats, leaving the current Democrat coalition with only the big government interest groups like minorities, gays, feminists, and government workers.
JVW (9e3c77) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:53 amDonald’s just this guy, you know?
pinandpuller (928ad9) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:56 amzaphod, no that’s the other guy, did your son get the absentee ballot,
narciso (732bc0) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:58 amneither branch of teh R’s has any credibility at this juncture
they pissed it all away
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:07 amTrump is going to win and he’s going to walk back every conservative remark he ever made and lead as a Nixon at best and a FDR at worst.
njrob (bed0b6) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:07 amMuch of my concern over Trump is based on his ignorance of the inner workings of the federal government, his indifference to our American heritage, including the separation of powers and the rule of law, and his combative personality that knows no discretion. The impotence of the Republican Congress has largely negated the significance of these failings for a very large segment of the electorate.
In this era, where a couple of environmental activists employed by the EPA can fine a family $37,000 dollars a day for preparing their lot for development, average citizens understand that their prosperity is hanging by a thread. Any number of agencies and departments can bankrupt them with the stroke of pen, and there is nothing they can do about it. The thugs in the agencies will never be held responsible for their excesses. The Congress, exercising its “power of the purse”, is the only institution that stands between us (the taxpayers) and them (the bureaucrats.)
With the new Democrat administration elected in 2008, everyone knew things could be bad, but they were willing to give the Democrats a chance to see if they’d fulfill any of their promises. Two years was enough to show that this was a losing proposition, and control of the Congress was divided between the Parties. That wasn’t enough. Now, five years after that, the voters have given the Republicans the Congress, and with it, the power to reign in the excesses of the regulatory state. But they too have failed.
The logical conclusion is that the rule of law is dead. And it’s dead because the only device provided for in the Constitution to discipline a runaway administration is the power of the purse, and the Republicans have declined to exercise this power. Worse, they have declined to do so for fear of being held accountable for the actions.
Trump has shown that he isn’t too impressed with the rule of law, nor separation of powers, nor anything else. He views government as mud wrestling, and that is what government looks like today. Large, powerful, institutions each scramble for a bigger and bigger slice of the pie, and the guy in the middle of the economic spectrum is helpless unless he can make an alliance with an equally aggressive and powerful entity. Trump seeks their support, and they rally to him instinctively. Whether Trump will reciprocate with anything meaningful is the question. But for most, just seeing him do battle will be a sufficient reward. It will be more than any Republican has received for his or her support of the crop of fools currently running Congress.
BobStewartatHome (a52abe) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:14 amHow do you explain the blanket support of Cruz by Utah.
In a caucus system.
Edict by theocracy. The Prophet must have threatened excommunication on those who would vote against God’s chosen candidate.
As sure as 10% of your salary in the collection plate.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:16 amYou’re fresh out of American theocracies to prop up Cruz.
Unless you have an in with the Mennonites.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:18 am@39 narciso
Wow, doublegood memory.
Nah-he decided to forgo. I still don’t know how an absentee ballot would work in a caucus state. I never participated in one living in WY.
pinandpuller (a12946) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:19 amtheocracy + nudity = victory for ted
but at what cost
at what price
at what expense
i don’t blame you if you’re fearful
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:28 amA couple reasons why I believe Trump won’t win against Hillary:
1. While she isn’t liked very much, Trump is liked even less.
Patrick Henry, the 2nd (0ec37f) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:29 am2. She will have the entire Media Complex behind her, and Trump will have them in front of him. Yes he has played the media so far, but that’s because the GOP primaries don’t matter to them much and he seems like the caricature of Republicans anyway. That will change if he gets the nomination.
3. Many republicans will stay home or not vote for Trump- his support is a narrow demographic and he hasn’t even gotten a majority in any election yet.
Mr Happyfeet, you were inquiring about the cost of nudity. There’s a lot of free stuff available on the internet.
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:31 ami like samples
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:32 am1. Trump believes we should have a real functioning border.
2. Trump realizes the threat we face from Islamic terrorists.
Yes, we understand what his supporters think. That is, why they like Trump.
We got it.
We cannot understand why they think this. Why do they believe he will do what he says. And why they don’t care about anything else.
That is what we cannot comprehend.
If his supporters said, “Yes, he’s terrible on these other issues but we will use him an instrument to fix these main problems and to send a signal to the establishment. But we will watch him closely on these other issues, we won’t give him a free hand on them. And yes, he’s a boorish jerk who doesn’t know much about policy.”
Fine. That’s at least something.
But they won’t – or can’t – say anything like that. Saying he’s the least bad is at least admitting he’s bad. When they admit this maybe I’ll take them more seriously.
SteveMG (6f6dc7) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:40 amPapertiger,
What is it about Trump supporters that makes them so nasty and bigoted towards those who choose not to support their candidate?
Seeks just like the lefts SJW’s.
njrob (bed0b6) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:43 amthis is why they can’t indict red queen,
http://dailycaller.com/2016/03/23/epa-execs-rely-on-private-emails-to-talk-with-lobbyists/
narciso (732bc0) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:46 am@Patrick Henry the 2nd:1. While she isn’t liked very much, Trump is liked even less.
2. She will have the entire Media Complex behind her, and Trump will have them in front of him. Yes he has played the media so far, but that’s because the GOP primaries don’t matter to them much and he seems like the caricature of Republicans anyway. That will change if he gets the nomination.
3. Many republicans will stay home or not vote for Trump- his support is a narrow demographic and he hasn’t even gotten a majority in any election yet.
All three of these will be operating against Cruz just as much as against Trump.
The difference is that Trump, being a celebrity, can define himself outside of the media. Everyone has heard of Donald Trump and already has an idea what he’s like. The same is not true for Cruz.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:46 amSeems just like the left’s SJW’s. *
njrob (bed0b6) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:46 amI said from the very beginning that if I had to choose between Ol’ Whazzizname and Hillary! that I would vote against Hillary! on the theory that we were much more likely to come to our senses and rectify our mistake in 2020. I stand by that (though as a Californian, I’ll probably vote third party).
JVW (9e3c77) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:54 amEveryone has heard of Donald Trump and already has an idea what he’s like.
And it’s not a pretty picture.
JVW (9e3c77) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:55 amBy next week, Team Trump will reveal a 10 point plan to seal the border around Utah. And no American Mormon missionaries returning from Europe or South America will be allowed to re-enter the country! (LOL)
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:55 amBigoted? Sounds like a personal attack.
How do you explain Saddam Hussein like numbers in a non Democrat primary?
If Saddam were alive and running for election in America, he would prefer open caucus in an overtly one religion state.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:57 amGabriel Hanna at 12: Yeah. Awareness of that is one of the reasons I feel ethically compelled to switch my registration (from decline-to-state) to Republican so that I can vote for the most likely to be successful not-Trump. My district has … a *small* number of Republicans.
aphrael (e0cdc9) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:11 am1. Trump believes we should have a real functioning border.
2. Trump realizes the threat we face from Islamic terrorists.
Cruz believes those things too, believed them before Trump did and will believe them after Trump finds them inconvenient. He also takes a harder line with respect to illegals — Trump would allow many of them to return, Cruz would not.
But heck, go with your gut.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:16 amyou’re just trying to make it to where people would pick Mr. Cruz instead of America’s candidate Donald Trump
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:18 amI’d be happy if they picked dead rotting Dick Nixon instead of Donald Trump.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:20 amI have a slightly off topic question. And maybe it really needs its own thread.
Does anyone here watch the commercials on TV or do you skip/FF past them. Do you stream your shows or watch entertainment without commercials? What, if anything, do you do that give political advertisers a shot at your eyeballs?
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:24 am@Beldar
I don’t care what you think one way or the other.
At least I have enough integrity to use my real name instead of hiding behind an alien character on Saturday Night Live from the Ford Administration.
mark johnson (aa8148) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:29 ami don’t watch ads and i stopped listening to commercial radio when it did like a three-day telethon for sick children it was so depressing i just use alexa now
i don’t read any magazines
i go on the internet i use yahoo finance even though i hate it
i read much of the night and go south in the winter
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:30 amRichard M. Nixon was well pickled.
I believe Donald Trump aims to dial back most of Nixon’s legacy. Trade with Commie China. Cut off a few of the heads on the EPA hydra.
You go ahead and throw in with the appeasement arm of the GOP. I’ll be going the other way.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:30 amwell the tactics are much like what the squire of whittier would do, including the mad man strategy with foreign affairs,
narciso (732bc0) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:35 am@Kevin M:Does anyone here watch the commercials on TV or do you skip/FF past them. Do you stream your shows or watch entertainment without commercials? What, if anything, do you do that give political advertisers a shot at your eyeballs?
I only see political ads if someone blogged about them or reported on them. Our media at home is streaming, on-demand and we rarely see commercials of any kind. I see banner ads sometimes on web pages but I’ve tuned those out so long ago that I couldn’t tell you how often I see political ads, they never do more than form an image on my retinas.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:36 amHere’s an excerpt from Nolan McCaskill’s article in Politico, 3/23/16
ropelight (1ae4d6) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:42 amWhy does Trump want to make the situation worse?
Torcer (55f1cc) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:47 amAnd yet the entire political campaign apparatus is based on TV advertising. Which doesn’t work anymore. The only ads I ever see are on live TV, and I watch very little of that. I guess that there are people who can’t work a computer or DVR who are stuck with network TV and commercials, but I don’t know any.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:52 amObama and Hillary are paying him big bucks, huge bucks, mega bucks, ultra huge big mega bucks under the table.
ropelight (1ae4d6) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:53 amHere’s an excerpt from Nolan McCaskill’s article in Politico, 3/23/16
So 54 percent of a voter segment which comprises 25% of the country wants their members to unite behind the guy. That’s a dismal showing. And yeah, here’s where you argue that your guy is going to win over Independents and Dems. Maybe he will, but by no means is it any certainty.
JVW (9e3c77) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:53 amI haven’t read anything here since last night, but I came across this in my brief scurry and thought it noteworthy, especially in light of some big speech Ryan gave today that I completely ignored, because I don’t care what he says, I care about when he actually does something that looks like it is for the good of the country.
Here is a take-away passage:
Trump’s cheerleaders insist that he’s a symptom of long-simmering maladies on the right. I’m persuaded (even though I think Dr. Trump’s remedies are nothing but snake oil). Even now, too many GOP leaders think Trump’s success is purely a result of his brash personality, and nothing more. But only when we accept that a terrible diagnosis is real is it possible to think intelligently about our options.
To wit: This ends in tears no matter what. Get over it and pick a side.
Now he’s persuaded, and others still don’t get it that a whole bunch of us have had enough lying and backstabbing???
Read more at http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/jonah032316.php3#l61YH0WVyW5SrlyJ.99
MD in Philly (at the moment not in Philly) (cb5e81) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:53 amhttp://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/jonah032316.php3
BTW, I’ll Trust something from Politico after the Lord returns and tells me I can.
MD in Philly (at the moment not in Philly) (cb5e81) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:57 ammark johnson (aa8148) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:29 am
The majority of commenters here know Beldar’s real name. If you stick around long enough, you will, too.
felipe (b5e0f4) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:11 pm@Kevin M:I guess that there are people who can’t work a computer or DVR who are stuck with network TV and commercials, but I don’t know any.
Okay, Pauline Kael. I know you and I and all the other sensible right thinking people we know killed our TVs. But the vast majority of the country didn’t.
Teens (12-17) watched 17 hours of traditional TV per week in Q3, an 11.5% drop year-over-year and a 30% contraction from 2011;
Older Millennials (25-34) watched 21 hours and 10 minutes per week in Q3, an 8.6% decrease year-over-year and a 23.8% drop from 2011;
Gen Xers (35-49) watched 28 hours and 41 minutes per week, a 3.4% decrease year-over-year (equating to 1 hour per week) and a 10.7% contraction from 2011;
Adults aged 50-64 watched 39 hours and 21 minutes per week, flat year-over-year (down only 2 minutes per week) and down just 2% from Q3 2011 (about three-quarters of an hour per week); and
Adults aged 65 and older watched 47 hours and 33 minutes per week, up 20 minutes per week from the previous year (<1%) and up about 5% from 2011.
People are watching a lot of TV.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:12 pmRubio turned down a unity ticket with Cruz and some of you think he should be asked again?
I remember being told Romany was so damn electable, over and over again.
DNF (755a85) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:14 pmeverybody want to vote for Ted n Heidi unless maybe if they’re not mormons who saw the naked lady, then they may be leaning towards America’s candidate Mr. Donald Trump
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:18 pm37. While I agree with the outline the details are in a sad, confused state.
DNF (755a85) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:19 pm“Beldar
I don’t care what you think one way or the other.
At least I have enough integrity to use my real name instead of hiding behind an alien character on Saturday Night Live from the Ford Administration.”
Joke’s on you, son.
You can call him Mark… or you can call him M… or you can call him J… or you can call him MJ… but ya doesn’t hasta call him Johnson!
Colonel Haiku (8ebd68) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:23 pmDoc @74, I get what the Trumpeters are angry about. I’m angry about it, and sick and tired of it, too. But Trump isn’t the answer. Trump has lied to and stabbed about as many people in the back as an average politician.
That’s what I don’t get. How people can shut their eyes and put their hands over their ears and keep repeating Trump talking points to drown out the truth.
Steve57 (08b8c6) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:24 pm80. Again, party affiliations will be polled for release in early October, but a working 2012 estimate will be 25% R, 33% D, 42% I.
When the GOP breaks up their flotsam will litter new parties account for the core of none.
DNF (ffe548) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:26 pm82. Your dilemma is called struggling with ‘the first stage of grief’.
DNF (ffe548) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:29 pmall summer long we sang a song and then we strolled that golden sand
my fickle friends, republicans
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:35 pmOh, Steve 57, I agree completely that Trump is not the answer. He has contributed immensely to the overall political process and exemplifying the mood of much of the public,
but to vote for him is to repeat the problem,
People saying things to get elected then doing something else.
We all know that a person needs to take their medicine for it to work, so doctors are interested in understanding who takes their medicine and who doesn’t and if anything can be done about it –
After much study, when all is said and done, the best predictor variables future behavior is
Wait for it…
Past behavior
We see what Trumps present and past behavior is, expect more of the same no matter what he says,
MD not exactly in Philly (521954) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:37 pmWe know Cruz’ behavior, keep his campaign promises even if people think he’s a jerk.
84. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/republican_delegate_count.html
Next comes ND, the last caucus state where your man can close the gap. Otherwise it widens.
DNF (ffe548) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:38 pmThat’s what I don’t get. How people can shut their eyes and put their hands over their ears and keep repeating Trump talking points to drown out the truth.
They simply don’t care. There’s no other way to put it. The things we worry about, that we focus on, are meaningless to them. That’s why they never respond (or rarely) to these observations. These concerns we have are just anti-Trump arguments, or PC arguments, or the establishment view. They just dismiss them out of hand.
They are convinced he will do something about illegal immigration, the border and Islamist extremism. And maybe trade agreements. Whether he is lying or not is meaningless because the other candidates are worthless. It’s better to go with a candidate that maybe will do something then guys we know won’t do anything. So he lies? They all lie?
Everyone else is a failure, has failed us, will fail us. Trump won’t; and even if he does he’ll destroy the Republican Party which has failed us. So, at the very worst he’ll end the Establishment and the modern GOP.
Anything else is gravy.
SteveMG (6f6dc7) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:44 pm86. As you noted yesterday Donks are fed up too. Globalism, of which immigration is part, is an unmitigated failure for individuals here and US foreign policy has succeeded only in creating chaos.
If Cruz really were the better man, good for his word, he would be addressing this totality. The fact that he does not implies he’s Bush with a more adroit domestic policy.
You don’t have to agree, events have so decreed.
DNF (755a85) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:45 pmIf you click Beldar’s name in his signature it’ll take you to his website where his real name is listed or shown.
It’s not like he’s hiding anything.
SteveMG (6f6dc7) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:46 pmDNF hath so decreed.
Leviticus (efada1) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:46 pmThese results aren’t depressing if they help us understand what’s happening, and I think they do. I think Trump voters are disaffected Republicans who think the government should help them. I don’t know how many there are but my guess is about 10%-20% of the voters fall in the category.
In addition, I think the other 20% of Trump’s voters (he typically gets 30%-40% of the vote) are disaffected Independents and especially Democrats who don’t like the socialist trend in the Democratic Party. They likely include Clinton Democrats who held on for 4-8 years of Obama, but have given up now they see Hillary move left to placate the socialist base. (Some of them may drift back to Hillary in the general election if she sounds more like Bill, as she probably will.)
If I’m right, these people have finally given up on the Democratic Party and Trump is their answer, and we can understand this. A lot of us will become less supportive and perhaps abandon the GOP if Trump is the nominee, and that will only intensify if Trump is elected and governs as a moderate New Yorker.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:50 pmIf I’m right, it also explains why they don’t care what Trump’s positions are. They probably like socially liberal policies or they don’t care about conservative policies, or both.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:52 pmHis name isn’t Beldar?
papertiger (c2d6da) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:55 pmNext you’ll be telling me he doesn’t have a pointy head, and he’s not married to Jane Curtin.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 3/23/2016 @ 12:57 pmsurveillance plane here in chicagoland (zoom in)
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:01 pmSo, you’re a billionaire who wants to run for president.
What do you do? Well, among the first things I do is to hire smart people to put together policy books or papers that I will study. They’ll teach me and test me so that I can be fluent in the basics. I won’t know who the Prime Minister of Chad or hell, who the governor of Idaho is but I’ll know the basics.
Isn’t that what’d you do? Bone up on the issues?
Is there any evidence that Trump has done this?
Why hasn’t he?
Answer: Because he thinks he doesn’t have to.
Geezus, that is disqualifying just by itself.
SteveMG (6f6dc7) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:02 pmThe Feds Are Now Using ‘Stingrays’ in Planes to Spy on Our Phone Calls
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:07 pmTrump wins again! crud sucks off mormon romney only cruz poopheads depressed. trump our next president!
ptterEEkoh sucks crud (f02643) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:09 pm@94 papertiger
I think he’s Dale from The Walking Dead.
He looks a lot like Dale.
No homo.
pinandpuller (0845e7) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:10 pm91. Get lost kid.
Bush friendliness not a positive,
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/03/23/neil_bush_cruz_isnt_singling_out_muslims_hes_also_talking_about_extremists_in_the_christian_faith.html
Spewing moral equivalence is like getting lit up by laser.
DNF (755a85) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:12 pmLongtime PP posters have known Beldar to be wise. But there’s a sadness to his wisdom.
Colonel Haiku (8ebd68) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:13 pm@ mark johnson: You can find my blog, beldar.org, linked from every single one of my comments here. Our host is also kind enough to link it from the Patterico.com sidebar. On my blog there is a prominent “About Beldar” link at the top of the right sidebar on every single page, and it in turn will take you to a page with my name — William Dyer, nickname Bill, which nickname in turn, in combination with my surname, got slurred by a drunken friend in college to “Beldar,” which led to a skit in which we portrayed Coneheads from the SNL running gag. You’ll also find a link to my professional website, dyerlegal.com, which has a spectacular wealth of detail about my professional life.
I’m hardly hiding; I have one of the largest online footprints of any private citizen over the last twenty years.
So this is yet another topic on which your assertions are provably false. You couldn’t be bothered to click the hyperlink at any of my comments to discover the truth. You’re content — smug — in your ignorance.
Yes, indeed: You are the perfect Trump voter.
Beldar (fa637a) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:13 pm92. Baby steps.
DNF (755a85) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:14 pm@ Kevin M: I do indeed make a conscious effort to watch as few TV commercials as I have to, toward which end I usually record news shows and replay them from my DVR, fastforwarding through essentially all of the commercials. The little bit of other TV that I watch are mostly movies from pay-cable channels without commercial (including political) ads, and even those I tend to record and watch on play-back, so I can skip the promos and other filler between shows.
As a consequence, the only political ads I see these days are those which are linked in something I’m reading online (including, prominently, this blog).
Beldar (fa637a) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:22 pmsort of off topic…http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/03/22/air-force-staff-sergeant-charged-with-assault-at-trump-rally.html?ESRC=airforce-a_160323.nl
Not good and he probably just tanked his AF career in the act.
spokanebob (e86321) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:25 pmAre you traditionally a Democratic voter, DNF? Were you raised a Democrat, or do you live in a Democratic area, or have you supported Democrats in past elections?
I’m interested how Trump supporters would answer these questions, too.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:26 pmOr Dayton, Smalley, Klobechar supporters…
Colonel Haiku (8ebd68) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:30 pmspokanebob,
Your link says he is in a Air Force Security Force Squadron, and I think that is the military police. More than anyone, he should know better than to do what he did. His career as a military police officer should be over.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:31 pmEven Trump’s own advisers say Trump won’t do the things he has promised, like torturing terrorists.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:35 pm@107 DRJ
Raised a Republican in a mostly Republican area.
Worked tangentially for the election of Mike Sullivan (Later Ambassador to Ireland under Clinton).
That was just for credit in a 9th grade Civics class and I don’t remember how it came about.
pinandpuller (0845e7) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:37 pm@Patricia’s question about CA voting… I register “decline to state” or something like that so as to bother the attempts of gerrymandering when they realign the districts. I got a notice from the Reg of Voters telling me that if I wished to vote in the presidential part of the primary I could check a box on the form they sent and vote D (or some third-tier party) and if I wanted to vote in the R primary I would have to re-register as such before such-and-such date. It appears from that that the 2 parties have different rules about who gets to choose their candidate.
This state is so blue that all one can hope for from the R side is to help choose a candidate who will beat the D… and by an electoral margin that covers the spread of CA’s electoral votes.
Note.. this may have already been explained up thread; I have not read all the comments. Yet.
Gramps (6a37e4) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:43 pmNo private citizen has a larger footprint on the internet than Donald J Trump, let me tell you.
And you know what they say about large footprints…
pinandpuller (0845e7) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:46 pmThey probably like socially liberal policies or they don’t care about conservative policies, or both.
Quite a few Americans regrettably feel (emphasizing the word FEEL) and think that way. That’s why someone as corrupt, devious and dishonest as Hillary retains traction well after her expiration date. That’s why a conservative who isn’t almost perfect in just about every way possible will struggle to ingratiate him or herself with that same large portion of the electorate.
If Ted Cruz could have his head (ie, face) and voice substituted with something more appealing, he’d come closer to that ideal. But regardless, and once again, the very fact someone as horrible as Hillary, on the heels of someone as horrible as what’s now in the Oval Office — during an era that epitomizes ongoing, growing decadence — is given as much leeway as she does indicates a nation entering its tired, twilight years.
Mark (6c93d5) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:46 pmA Democrat bit me on the ankle once. Leg swelled up tighter than Dick’s hatband.
Lost the leg (couldn’t find a volunteer to suck the poison out), but it was a lefty so we hardly miss it.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:53 pmbut
you promised
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 1:54 pmI imagine most of the Trump supporters who are long-term commenters are Republicans/conservatives and that they fall into what I’m calling disaffected Republicans. (There area lot of disaffected Republicans here.) I’m curious if some of the newer Trump commenters consider themselves to be Independents, Democrats, or newly converted Republicans.
papertiger and pinandpuller – Is it fair to say you are unhappy with the GOP?
DRJ (15874d) — 3/23/2016 @ 2:07 pmI think Trump voters are disaffected Republicans who think the government should help them.
I’m sure a lot of regular readers here roll their eyes at my fondness for quoting P.J. O’Rourke, but I think this quip here fits perfectly: “A little luck and a little government are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either one.”
JVW (9e3c77) — 3/23/2016 @ 2:38 pmThis reads like an existential Sartre screed.
Trump supporters are not real Conservatives AT ALL.
The have Conservative Positions on many important issues and have either vote Republican or simply not voted at all.
It happens to be 50% of the Republican Party plus disaffect Blue Collar Democrats
25% of true believers and another 25% of Crony Capitalist Loving Republicans — those who never met a war they did not like.
So, Trump pointed the Republicans the way to open up the Party, get enthusiasm and bring in new voters.
If you are paying attention, you might use the formula to get other more personally suitable Republicans in races against RINO wash outs.
To my point Cruz should cut the deal, get power, clean out the Party apparatus, support Trump candidacy and give Trumpster what he most want “The Title.”
Trumpy bumpy will need Ted later to get laws passed and in this secret sauce Ted can work his magic for the Republic..
Rodney King's Spirit (a089dc) — 3/23/2016 @ 2:45 pm@117 DRJ
I guess you could say I’m cynical and unimpressed by the GOP.
Usually in a general, on the downballot, I vote libertarian so as to maybe help them out a bit and try to turn out the incumbent.
pinandpuller (0845e7) — 3/23/2016 @ 2:46 pm#109. I agree.
spokanebob (a3a1b4) — 3/23/2016 @ 2:46 pmOur point of reference in criticizing Trump is all wrong. We live in a country that has been regulated with none of the features that we normally associate with the rule of law. The average guy has no idea what “the rule of law” means. The only people who have any experience with our traditional “rule of law” are criminals. They expect a trial by jury and right to legal council. Their public defender may not amount to much, but all the elements of what we consider the “rule of law” are visibly in play as our criminal lurches through the legal system.
But not so the average guy who has no experience with the criminal side of our society other than jury duty. The average guy runs into the modern regulatory state in very different circumstances. Someone from the county permit office arrives one morning and tapes off his house because he had the wrong permit, or maybe none at all. A tax payer gets his assessment for his house and notes that it is 50% higher than his neighbor’s, and attempts to correct it. He discovers that the body that reviews his complaint is the same one that made the screwy assessment in the first place. His only option is to keep plugging and hope to wear them out. But they are paid to waste time, so the odds aren’t good. You need to do a little demolition work and discover that several state environmental agencies are now concerned about lead (Pb) in your paint and asbestos in a layer of shingles. You’ll have to hire a specialized demolition crew who arrive wearing haz-mat suits and perform very dangerous work encumbered in these silly suits. The price is exorbitant. The average guy cheers when he learns that a National Forest is going to be upgraded to a National Park. The next time he attempts to go fishing as he used to, he finds the Park is now closed to the public. The family next door flies to Disney Land and they spend hours suffering the abuses of TSA while en route. The kid next door sets up lemonade stand, and all heck breaks loose. The average guy cheers when Obama gives him health care, only to discover he has fewer choices for his family and his monthly insurance bill has gone up $400. He has no recourse. Thirteen armed men descend on the St. Francis No Kill Animal Sanctuary, and while the staff is ushered at gun point into a corral by the Deputy Sheriffs, the Game Wardens search the facility and destroy a fawn that was being temporarily cared for with the wrong permits.
It goes on and on. For ten years there has been no indication that anything can constrain the abuses of our regulators. Republicans, Democrats, it doesn’t make a bit of difference. We live in a land where we must comply with every sort of foolishness, and there is no recourse. Worse, we must pretend that these fools in the their government offices are geniuses making a utopia. Even when they work for the IRS and we discover that they have been abusing conservative groups. Or worse yet, an agency tasked with enforcing gun laws comes up with “Fast and Furious” and ends up distributing machine guns to drug lords in Mexico. Nothing happens when a Border Patrol officer is gunned down with one of these weapons.
So for the average guy, what’s the big deal with Trump. Maybe Trump will be on the little guy’s side like he claims he will.
And the “leaders” of the Republican Party still don’t understand the problem.
BobStewartatHome (a52abe) — 3/23/2016 @ 2:47 pmThank you for responding, pinandpuller. I do that sometimes, too.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/23/2016 @ 3:10 pmMaybe, BobStewart, but the rule of law is what also makes traffic accidents not turn into shootouts and what people call on when their property gets stolen or vandalized. That’s what most people think of and benefit from when we talk about the rule of law, and I think it works fairly well in most places.
However, I’m not sure it works as well in some places where Trump supporters live and work, and it seems like some don’t feel like it applies to them or to Trump. No rules when you get mad enough, and maybe that’s what you are saying.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/23/2016 @ 3:21 pmDRJ you know my main focus in politics is stopping the global warming fraud in all it’s permutations.
I think the GOP scrum in 2008, when Gwen Ifil asked for a show of hands from the candidates when I really went sour on those louts.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 3/23/2016 @ 3:42 pmMaking a pretense of doing something about the gorbal warmers, like Ted Cruz did in Iowa, is not good enough.
Accepting the premise for temporary political gain, like Bush did with the ethanol, in order to get along with the fraudsters, is not good enough.
President Trump says global warming fraud is expensive bullshit that needs to stop.
President Trump has track record of fighting the forced installation of costly impractical sops to the global warming lobby.
Sorry. Nobody else is doing that.
They had their chance.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 3/23/2016 @ 3:52 pmMaking a pretense of doing something about the gorbal warmers, like Ted Cruz did in Iowa, is not good enough.
Accepting the premise for temporary political gain, like Bush did with the ethanol, in order to get along with the fraudsters, is not good enough.
President Trump says global warming fraud is expensive bull dung (not the word he used) that needs to stop.
President Trump has track record of fighting the forced installation of costly impractical sops to the global warming lobby.
Sorry. Nobody else is doing that.
They had their chance.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 3/23/2016 @ 3:53 pmi think that’s a very very useful lens Mr. tiger
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 4:00 pmDRJ, your examples date you. For the last 16 years in Seattle, theft of property and of cars is recorded by the police for insurance purposes, but no other actions are taken. Should the car be found, it will be towed and impounded, and for a mere $150 (or a bit more, today I imagine,) you can pick it up. Stolen property that is recovered might be returned, but a fair amount is auctioned by the police for the City’s benefit when the owner doesn’t magically appear to claim it. Small inner-city grocery stores have had their bank deposits seized (in significant amounts, say $35,000) because they did too much business in cash. No crime is alleged, but the victims of this legal robbery have little or no recourse. At least until recently when some law firms and law schools have embarked on pro bono work.
And traffic accidents do result in shootouts, usually very one-sided, every so often.
My point isn’t that most of us are not law abiding. Quite the contrary, we are herded like sheep with little complaint. My point is that in our dealings with our regulators, we don’t have the traditional rights we associate with the rule of law. We have to prove our innocence, the regulatory agency is both prosecutor and judge, and the rules used by the agency are created by the agency with no legislative oversight, occasionally well after the fact.
And yes: No rules when you get mad enough, and maybe that’s what you are saying.
Quid pro quo.
The Republican Party should support the little guy in these cases. But it has unilaterally disarmed by failing to defund federal programs that have gone off their tracks. The tax payers are subsidizing the harvesting of baby organs from children whose hearts are still beating, to name the most egregious recent example. It is this weakness that is driving the middle ground voter to Trump. They may be harboring Quixotic dreams, but they won’t realize it for some time. Wonks like Paul Ryan will never understand this dynamic.
BobStewartatHome (a52abe) — 3/23/2016 @ 4:01 pmSpeaking of Paul Ryan, did anyone take the time to listen to his speech today?
yes, I’m asking if anyone else did the hard work of paying attention which I was not willing to do.
I hope to have the time to send him a letter saying that we don’t care what he says, we’re waiting for him to do something that shows he is serious about governing our country instead of the usual BS of the last 7 yrs+.
MD in Philly (at the moment not in Philly) (cb5e81) — 3/23/2016 @ 4:44 pmPeople are watching a lot of TV.
I watch a lot of TV, too. Not one minute of it at the time it was broadcast, and none of the commercials. I guess there’s a all the music television and cable news and the vast wasteland of sports TV which doesn’t really HAVE time slots.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 4:44 pmAgain, I ask: How come DNF gets to post a link to a shopping site with every comment?
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 4:47 pmNo private citizen has a larger footprint on the internet than Donald J Trump, let me tell you.
Oh, I’d have to go with Bill Gates.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 4:48 pm107. I voted for Senator Proxmire whose hand I shook twice, otherwise no Democrats I can recall.
I am well to the right of those self-identifying as Republican.
DNF (755a85) — 3/23/2016 @ 4:53 pm129. Wisconsin is open, delegates assigned by District. About as evenly divided an electorate as any state’s.
132. Again Mr. M., swings, the game uncertain.
DNF (755a85) — 3/23/2016 @ 4:59 pm130. Half of my family resides in his District. Some remain fiercely loyal others not so much.
The careers of Wisconsinite Republicans Ryan, Duffy, Johnson and Walker, bright just two years ago now look to be in denouement.
DNF (755a85) — 3/23/2016 @ 5:03 pmHere’s an excerpt from Eli Stokols’ 3/23/16 article at Politico: (emphasis added)
ropelight (1ae4d6) — 3/23/2016 @ 5:11 pmI voted for Senator Proxmire whose hand I shook twice, otherwise no Democrats I can recall.
A man who would have stopped the moon landings if he could have.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 5:13 pmI knew you were a commie.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 3/23/2016 @ 5:14 pm#137:
What I read is that they would rather lose with a Republican than win with a crazy person who might do almost anything, including default on our bonds. He’s defaulted on his own company’s 4 times.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 5:16 pmGramps, at 112:
yes. In CA, it’s up to the *party* to decide if they want to allow decline-to-state voters to vote in the primary or not. The Republicans have decided they do not want to allow decline-to-state voters.
aphrael (e0cdc9) — 3/23/2016 @ 5:17 pmI knew you were a commie.
Those are fighting words. But you are safe behind your keyboard.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 5:17 pmJoe Garagiola died Wednesday. He was 90.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 3/23/2016 @ 5:18 pmThe Republicans have decided they do not want to allow decline-to-state voters.
The Dems are OK with it though, so everyone who is DTS should go vote for Bernie.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 5:19 pm134. I also refused to vote for either Nixon or McGovern, however, abstaining in that election had no practical effect.
DNF (755a85) — 3/23/2016 @ 5:27 pmYou probably voted for Wallace in ’68.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 5:37 pmDick Morris:
“Love him or hate him — and mostly they love him — Donald Trump’s candidacy will have increased Republican primary turnout by 14 million votes over the 2012 levels.”
Among Republicans DT currently polling at 46%, and 75% say he should be supported if he were to win the nomination.
Have not seen any data on the percentage willing to vote for the GOPe usurper.
DNF (755a85) — 3/23/2016 @ 5:39 pmi might have to actually vote if Mr. The Donald gets nominatered cause so many poopers wanna hand the whole chimichanga to that disgusting incontinent old woman
but i certainly hope it doesn’t come to that
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 5:42 pmDNF,
I said above that I think there are two kinds of Trump followers, and I believe the ones who have commented here for awhile are generally Republican. They probably see themselves as more conservative than the rest of us, althouh I would describe them as more protectionist or nationalistic.
I think the other kinds of followers may be disenchanted Democrats or Independents who have given up on the Democratic Party. But I could be wrong. It’s just a theory.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/23/2016 @ 5:49 pmthe Trump brand on a very basic level’s been tailored to appeal to people for whom rolling the dice has a certain appeal whether it’s a luxury casino or a fanciful real estate seminar or just going with your gut and saying you’re hired
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 5:53 pmThanks to Gabriel and gramps. Guess I need to register if I want to vote for Cruz.
Patricia (9f6f9f) — 3/23/2016 @ 5:56 pmBobStewart at Home, that was brilliant at #122. I’m a Cruz supporter but I’ve had those very thoughts when I had to deal with the nameless unionized bureaucrats adept at trying to ruin peoples lives and livelihood by flexing their regulatory might to show how much more powerful they are than a mere “civilian”. I actually stopped in the middle of a multi million dollar shopping center project and sold out rather than continue being told opposite demands by local, state and federal bureaucrats.
Rev. Hoagie ™ (e4fcd6) — 3/23/2016 @ 6:02 pmAs in risk-takers, hf? People who are prone to high-risk, high-reward decisions?
DRJ (15874d) — 3/23/2016 @ 6:02 pmDRJ, has nationalism become something bad or am I misconstruing your meaning?
Rev. Hoagie ™ (e4fcd6) — 3/23/2016 @ 6:06 pmThe Trump brand on a very basic level’s been tailored to appeal to people for whom rolling the dice has a certain appeal whether it’s a luxury casino or a fanciful real estate seminar or just going with your gut and saying you’re hired
Isn’t this just recklessness dressed up for company?
Dana (0ee61a) — 3/23/2016 @ 6:07 pmyes yes risk-takers
breaking away from the establishment
getting out of your comfort zone
and just seeing what happens when you get your Jesus on in the temple of failmerica
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 6:08 pmhulk smash
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 6:08 pmIsn’t this just recklessness dressed up for company?
but we’re never gonna survive unless
we get a lil crazy
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 6:09 pmWell DRJ there is no risk involved with Hillary!, we know exactly what we’d get: a commie, two radical left SC judges (minimum) and a foreign policy and military designed by someone who believes in reset buttons. I’d rather throw the dice if it comes to it.
Rev. Hoagie ™ (e4fcd6) — 3/23/2016 @ 6:10 pm151. I doubt that you as yet have a pigeonhole for moi. I see our time in the current grand economic scycle begun with Bretton-Woods coming to an end, an end being gamed by world governments of but a few persuasions.
Our political class is bankrupt of either the moral character or the perspicuity to govern; the times being what they are craven self-interest cannot keep all the plates spinning, the juggled balls in the air.
It is time to terminate the GOP. War, famine and pestilence will not be ameliorated by their continued existence. They are obligatory parasites of a dying patient.
DNF (755a85) — 3/23/2016 @ 6:25 pmwhoa check out low-wattage click-bait site Hot Air
looks like it’s unexpectedly succeeded in utterly and completely destroying the holy eff out of their comment section
not that it was any prize before
but their page views have to be cratering, and right when they should be peaking
own goal there, pickleheads
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 6:26 pmwhere’s Mr. tiger
Exxon Mobil must allow climate change vote: SEC
yup cruz kids let’s put hillary in charge
the devil you know and all
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 6:31 pm“CNN poll: 35% of Republicans and leaners want a third-party GOP candidate if Trump is the nominee”
Ok, so the Donks can play that game too.
Chaos.
DNF (755a85) — 3/23/2016 @ 6:33 pmAlthough I try to get a handle on people’s ideological orientation, I’m not sure how Trump supporters break down in terms of the percentages of them who are staunchly conservative, flexibly conservative, centrist (whatever that means in 21st-century America) or flexibly liberal—or a schizophrenic variation of one of the (or all) four. (I doubt few, if any, of his supporters are staunchly liberal.)
The only thing I can conclude is that the average person is, from my standpoint, quite liberal and, based on opinion polls of younger Americans, becoming more leftwing than the same age group of the past.
The road up ahead that the US is going to be traveling on appears to be full of detours (eg, the impact of Islamicization, as witnessed in Europe), potholes and, even worse, flat-out sinkholes (the US becoming a blend of an Argentina, Mexico and Venezuela).
Buckle up, it’s gonna be a rough ride.
Mark (6c93d5) — 3/23/2016 @ 6:34 pmMark my words…
Late October rolls around. Trump gets offended by something, stomps off in a huff, and drops out of the race, leaving no one to vote for but Hillary.
That happens, then it’s time to revolt.
IGotBupkis, "Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses." (01a250) — 3/23/2016 @ 6:41 pm@152 happyfeet
You took the words right out of my mouth.
“Get out there and rock
Roll the bones.”
High energy.
pinandpuller (a12946) — 3/23/2016 @ 6:44 pmhere’s some more Ted Cruz jeans pron for Sarah
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 6:45 pmAnyone pulling only 75% of the vote in their own party is headed for a crushing defeat.
Gerald A (7c7ffb) — 3/23/2016 @ 6:47 pmi wouldn’t overstate the love the socialists have for the smelly incontinent old woman Mr. A
she’s really disgusting on like an atavistic level
you don’t let something this nasty crawl into your cave
happyfeet (831175) — 3/23/2016 @ 6:52 pmHoagie,
Not bad, just more accurate.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/23/2016 @ 7:21 pmThanks DRJ. I don’t seem to get exposed to enough stuff that would reveal any new PC so to me nationalistic means “American Exceptionalism” not xenophobic paranoia. It means one loves his country and puts it first not that he “hates” all other countries. PC has so poisoned the English language communication is like walking on egg shells.
Rev. Hoagie ™ (e4fcd6) — 3/23/2016 @ 7:36 pmWhich is exactly the point.
ropelight (1ae4d6) — 3/23/2016 @ 7:47 pmHoagie,
I think that’s how many, perhaps even most, of Trump’s supporters feel.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/23/2016 @ 7:52 pmThe funniest line I heard yesterday, improbably enough, was from Mitt Romney, who, questioned about Trump’s suggestions that Romney might not really be a Mormon, quipped, “He could’ve just asked my wives.”
I really don’t find yesterday’s results depressing. What I find depressing is contemplating the gap between, roughly, the South Carolina primary and yesterday. It ought to have been obvious after Cruz won Iowa and Trump won New Hampshire that they were the two principal contenders; but even if it wasn’t obvious then, it was certainly obvious by the South Carolina primary that they were the only two candidates who could conceivably have gotten to 1237 pledged delegates before the convention. Nothing of substance has changed in that analysis since then; it’s only gotten more clear through each split result thereafter, all of which have been to Trump’s near-exclusive benefit. So looking backwards, I do feel dispirited in contemplating how many anti-Trump votes ended up being wasted on everyone else but Ted Cruz.
But it’s certainly clear now that only two candidates will go into the convention with broad national support and many hundreds (albeit no more than a plurality) of delegates. And semi-pathetic though it seems, the Jeb! endorsement is indeed powerfully symbolic — the establishment GOP’s concession, in fact, of defeat in this cycle to the inchoate forces of anti-Washington political insurgency, although it’s not clear yet whether it will be Trump or Cruz who emerges as the last insurgent standing.
The breathing space in the electoral calendar — nothing new until Wisconsin on Tuesday, April 4th — could not have come at a more propitious time for Cruz. This is his opportunity to welcome the repentant graciously, overlooking their grumbles and even their obvious insincerities so long as they’re supporting Cruz over Trump.
And this is also the time for Cruz supporters to take a deep breath and prepare for a long, and necessarily frightful, period of continuing uncertainty.
The only thing that is certain is that Trump will find — or create — some fresh new outrage to hijack the next news cycle. That’s now a given of the political landscape: It’s like we’re walking continuously through hurricane-force headwinds. But the path is clear, if not short. And as Sen. Cruz has said, the way to beat Trump remains to beat him at the ballot box.
Beldar (fa637a) — 3/23/2016 @ 8:55 pmGlenn Beck represents all Mormons, just as Carl Panzram represents all of you Minnesotans, DNF.
Colonel Haiku (8ebd68) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:03 pmR.I.P. Joe Garagiola
Icy (7ab12c) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:12 pmRomney has a wonderful sense of comedy timing and self-depreciation. Back in 2012 at the Correspondent’s Dinner, he was all dressed up in formal attire and remarked that he and his wife were relieved to finally relax like they do at home.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:16 pmIf Cruz can beat Trump and his enablers in the media, Hillary will be a breeze. Why does the media make a beeline for the worst possible candidates?
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:19 pmBTW, assuming that Trump has the bound votes for the nomination, could the convention decide to pick the VP themselves so that should Trump get elected impeachment is an option?
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:25 pmWill Trump take the bait and say “I’ve had more p____ than Romney”?
nk (dbc370) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:27 pmenis?
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:28 pmox?
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:30 pmroceedings?
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:31 pmublicists?
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:33 pmussy. He has actually said it to a reporter, something like “You may have better hair than me but I get more ….”
nk (dbc370) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:36 pmYou were putting me on, right?
nk (dbc370) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:37 pmYou guys are cracking me up. 😀
Beldar (fa637a) — 3/23/2016 @ 9:40 pmennsylvania is a state we need to win!
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:15 pmTrump eat more chicken any man ever seen.
Colonel Haiku (0666ef) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:15 pm0bama is resident of the usa
Colonel Haiku (0666ef) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:16 pmA little known fact: the toothbrush was invented in Arkansas. If it had been invented elsewhere it would’ve been called a teethbrush.
Colonel Haiku (0666ef) — 3/23/2016 @ 10:22 pm#193 Colonel Haiku, it’s no coincidence that “Arkansas” is pronounced in the singular form, rather than plural! (LOL)
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:00 pmI may be a little late for this party, but here are my two cents. First, I wouldn’t read too much in to the Arizona primary. Almost one-quarter of the votes went to candidates who are no longer candidates. Also, if the Louisiana experience is any indicator, Trump’s vote count is even less impressive, having been goosed by heavy Trump voting early on.
Second, and perhaps more importantly, now that I’ve learned that “Beldar” really isn’t Beldar, I’m going to have to rethink my mental image of him. What, no conehead?
Finally, also regarding Beldar, there is no shame in having a large footprint. There is only shame in having short fingers.
ThOR (a52560) — 3/23/2016 @ 11:23 pmThe Establishment only has itself to blame…..you can only lie to, ignore and generally piss off the American people, while making your contempt for them plain, yet still expecting their votes, for so long.
Many of Trump’s supporters support him because he’s such a bad candidate…they see themselves as Solomon, pulling the whole building down.
gahrie (12cc0f) — 3/24/2016 @ 6:21 amThOR, my online footprint is cultivated, so thank you. And once, for a skit in 1977 there was indeed a cone. There are photos, but I’ve bought up most of them.
Beldar (fa637a) — 3/24/2016 @ 9:09 amYou were putting me on, right?
And having fun doing it.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 3/24/2016 @ 9:18 am