WaPo: Trumpism Now Defines the Republican Party
They’re right. Aren’t they? My only question is: what do you mean by “now”? What took you so long to figure this out?
Over just a few days last week, the essence of Trumpism was on global display: The president ignored his advisers by congratulating Vladimir Putin, took the first steps toward imposing tariffs on billions of dollars in Chinese goods and signed a huge $1.3 trillion spending bill that will balloon the federal deficit.
In each case, President Trump cast aside years of Republican orthodoxy — and most of the party followed right along. The raw, undefined brand of populism that Trump rode into office is now hardening into a clearer set of policies in his second year, remaking the Republican Party and the country on issues ranging from trade and immigration to spending and entitlement programs.
. . . .
The spending legislation — which puts the deficit on track to pass $1 trillion in 2019 — faced little meaningful opposition from Republican lawmakers despite years of GOP complaints that federal expenditures were out of control. Trump called the bill “ridiculous,” but focused on issues other than the amount of spending.
It was another example of how Trump seems to have overtaken his party’s previously understood values, from a willingness to flout free-trade principles and fiscal austerity to a seeming abdication of America’s role as a global voice for democratic values.
I said goodbye to the Republican party on May 3, 2016, the day Ted Cruz dropped out:
I am not a “NeverTrump” guy because that implies support for Hillary Clinton, and I cannot support Hillary Clinton. But I cannot support Donald Trump, a leftist con man with an “R” after his name. At this point, I am a disinterested observer. I believe Donald Trump would be better for the Supreme Court, because he doesn’t care about the Court and might pick someone good if his advisers tell him to. I believe Hillary Clinton would be better on almost everything else — because I believe the GOP would fight her more than they would fight Trump. I can’t choose between “the Court” and “everything else.” So I’m just someone who doesn’t care about the presidential race any more.
William Brennan was not a good Supreme Court justice because he was appointed by a Republican. Affirmative action is not a good policy because it has been pushed by many Republicans. And continuing entitlement programs, growing federal interference in health care, imposing disastrous tariffs, and other Trump-style policies are not good policies even if they are pushed by a “Republican.”
Let’s look at my list.
Continuing entitlement programs? Check.
Growing interference in health care? Check. ObamaCare has not been repealed and won’t be.
Imposing disastrous tariffs? Checkity-check check.
I said goodbye in May 2016, but many more said goodbye on Friday, when Trump signed the absurd omnibus bill, ballooning the deficit and funding Planned Parenthood and sanctuary cities.
To those people, I say: Welcome to the ranks of the disaffected! For the longest time, many have treated any critic of Trump like monsters. But I’m not a monster. I’m just ahead of the curve.
What’s amazing to me is that people kept telling us Trump critics that we had “changed” because we didn’t support Trump. We were lining up with leftists! And our response was: we opposed ridiculous spending before and we opposed it now. We opposed disastrous tariffs before and we oppose them now. We opposed entitlements before and we opposed them now.
So how is it that we changed?
Isn’t it obvious that, by following Trump down his destructive path, Republicans are the ones who changed?
If this omnibus is what you signed up for, then by all means, stick with Trump. But if you’re starting to tire of more of the same GOP Establishment crap, then heed the words I spoke in May 2016:
If you believe in limited government, constitutional principles, and liberty, stick with me. There are others like us. We’ll figure out what to do next. It won’t be supporting Donald Trump, but it will be supporting our natural rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
I am watching Ted Cruz right now and I am proud of him and the campaign he has conducted. He made mistakes, but he has been a forceful and effective advocate for liberty and the Constitution. He still has my respect and support, as do folks like Mike Lee and Justin Amash.
Such people are the only hope for this nation.
They still are. They are the people who opposed this omnibus. Trump supported it. With all his grumbling, he didn’t do a thing to change it in the weeks leading up to it, he sent advisers out the day before the signing to say he would sign it, he boasted about its benefits on Twitter the day before he signed it, and he signed it.
Yeah, I know: he grumbled about it, and he claimed he would never sign such a bill again.
But, as Trump supporters have told me time and time again: don’t look at what Trump says. Look at what he does.
And what he did was sign this garbage.
Republicans, Trump defines your party for now. Are you going to let him continue to define it for you? Or are you going to stand up for what the party always stood for, and force Trump to do the same or lose relevance? Will you stand for principles like opposition to abortion, fiscal conservatism, and defunding absurd lefty organizations like Planned Parenthood and dangerous leftist projects like sanctuary cities?
Or are you going to take this loss and accept more of the same?
Trump doesn’t care about principles. He wants to be liked. If you make it clear that, to be liked, he must espouse the principles you care about, maybe you can steer him back to lead a party you can be proud of.
And if you can’t, then chuck him overboard. And if the party won’t follow you, then chuck the party itself overboard.
The choice is yours.
[Cross-posted at RedState and The Jury Talks Back.]
The Democratic Party became the wholly owned subsidy of Planned Parenthood in 2008.
Neo (d1c681) — 3/25/2018 @ 2:17 pmEven now New York Archbishop Dolan says there is no place for Catholics in the Democratic Party.
The Democratic Party knows Dolan is right, but they won’t scare away any votes by saying so.
Ted Cruz lol
no trumpism has not defined the republican party
what we’re seeing
is there’s a lot of Kasich Flake McCain filth anymore what are perfectly content to blithely accept any definition du jour applied to the Republican party by CNN Jake Tapper fake news propaganda sluts
they open their quivering thighs and they welcome it
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/25/2018 @ 2:25 pmThe “tariffs” on China are not about protectionism. They are about stopping China’s rampant theft of US intellectual property. We are DECADES late in doing this. Calling it “protectionism” is misinformed.
Now, I would prefer that we just said “you can’t import sh1t from China” until they stop stealing patents, ignoring copyrights and abusing trademarks, but this is considered an intermediate step. Apple and other US manufacturers who have accepted Chinese demands to manufacture there to sell into China should think hard about which market they want to serve.
And anyone who buys a Huawei phone ought to be ashamed. It’s almost ALL stolen tech and it spies on you.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/25/2018 @ 2:28 pmyes yes before you invest in any small or midcap stock what has IP you have to check to see if they were desperate enough to “partner” with dirty chinesers
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/25/2018 @ 2:31 pmRepublicans, Trump defines your party for now.
You mean ‘conservatives’… it’s the Republican Party– not the Conservative Party. Flamboyance and personal foibles aside, Trump is more or less what we once called a ‘Rockefeller Republican.’
Welcome to 1964: what goes around, comes around.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/25/2018 @ 2:31 pmThe last Republican President who was able to instill discipline in Federal spending was Calvin Coolidge. So Trump is different than Hoover through W. Bush exactly how? Other than the TDS dementia that continues to infect otherwise sane people. To say that this is some sort of radical departure for a Republican President shows a woeful ignorance of history. Wish it was different – but ‘taint.
Bill Saracino (78f41f) — 3/25/2018 @ 2:33 pmTrump is more or less what we once called a ‘Rockefeller Republican’
srsly?
that strikes me as kinda facile
i think he’s sui and also very generis
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/25/2018 @ 2:33 pmWhat is unconscionable is that the GOP has, up to now, been willing to look the other way as US intellectual property was stolen every which-way, and then shipped worldwide to undercut the owners of said property.
Do I like Mr Trump? No. He’s a pig of a man. But his willingness to protect American inventors, artists and companies, rather than worrying about foreign feelings is refreshing. Maybe you just need to have an assh0le as President from time to time.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/25/2018 @ 2:34 pmAs for budget busting …. yeah he’s overturned the proud tight-fisted fiscal heritage of W, his father, Reagan, Ford and Nixon and … oh. wait.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/25/2018 @ 2:36 pmyou forgot pedophile Mitt Romney’s tight-fisted invention of obamacare
that was maybe the high water mark
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/25/2018 @ 2:38 pmThe GOP in Congress has not changed. They are no more defined by “Trumpism” than they were in defined by “Bushism” in 2000-2008.
Hinderaker had it exactly right a couple days ago when he entitled a post “You Can Vote For Conservatism, You Just Can’t Have It.”
I’m quite confident that the budgetary process would have played out pretty much the same way if Ted Cruz were President.
As long as all sides run in fear of being blamed for a “gov’t shutdown” over the failure to agree to a spending bill, they will always reach a “compromise” that gives individual members the best chance to get re-elected.
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 3/25/2018 @ 2:39 pmAnd the one very real concept I struggle with is the question of whether a Senator should put principle and the interest of the country ahead of the interests of the citizens of the individual state that elected them. For me that’s a very difficult question for someone like Susan Collins. She opposed the repeal of Obamacare because her state opted to expand its Medicaid program as part of the Obamacare framework. Rolling back Obamacare means placed tens of thousands of people in her state back into the ranks of the uninsured — or it cripples the state’s budget by trying to continue to pay for them through Medicaid while no longer receiving additional money from Washington. A vote in favor of rolling back Obamacare meant very real pain for her constituents in a very small state.
So, when she tells the conservatives that their arguments against socialized medicine take a backseat to the very real interests of her state that sent her to the Senate to represent that state, is she wrong to do so?
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 3/25/2018 @ 2:45 pmPatterico, I love ya man but Cruz does not define the Republican Party any more than my guys., Scott Walker did. They are both good men and I would rather have had them as our candidate than Trump but Trump won. And we still don’t have Hillary.
I wish I could be but there is way too much at stake to be “disinterested”. Not the least of which are our 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th amendment rights which are under a major assault by the left.
I have more to say but I gotta go to dinner.
Rev.Hoagie (1b0402) — 3/25/2018 @ 2:48 pmlobsterpot bimbo susan collins is a proud member of cowardpig traitor John McCain’s sleazy soros-funded Republican Main Street Partnership
obamacare isn’t the half of it
would it were
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/25/2018 @ 2:49 pmI’m with you on most of this, Patterico. When DJT does something good, I will say so. And when he screws up, that needs to be said as well. There are folks who refuse to do the former. Others that refuse to do the latter.
Because they really don’t care about much of anything.
https://youtu.be/efHCdKb5UWc
They just want to caper around the fire.
I think that everyone needs to come up with a list of principles which define their ethical center. And when a candidate or officeholder violates any of those principles, it’s time to sing out.
What I keep seeing are people who keep defining their ethical center downward. Each person needs to determine how well they avoid hypocrisy for themselves.
Simon Jester (87bfcc) — 3/25/2018 @ 2:54 pmThere are entire angles to the tariff debate that are completely and totally ignored by a “tariffs are bad, free trade is good” dialectic.
The first is that it presumes we have free trade now, and that tariffs somehow upset that balance.
Watch the Netflix “Rotten” episode on the world garlic trade, and then come back and tell me if you’ll ever buy Christopher Ranch Pre-Peeled Garlic cloves again. The first thing I checked after watching that episode was the label on the big jar of minced garlic I bought at Costco. I was relieved to see that the label said “100% grown and processed in California.”
When the Chinese government requires — as a matter of China law — that a US company wishing to sell products in China must do so only through a joint-venture enterprise with a domestic Chinese company, and that the joint-venture agreement must include a joint license of any proprietary material required for the product to be sold, is that “free trade”? Should we not disrupt such “free trade” markets with tariffs meant to coerce a more MUTUALLY beneficial arrangement simply so the price of consumer goods can remain artificially low?
Or how about this — a US company sues a Chinese company for patent infringement. The Chinese company responds by initiating a hostile takeover action — funded by a Chinese sovereign wealth fund. The result is a hostile takeover of a domestic company by a foreign company, done through the financial backing of the foreign sovereign government.
MORE FREE TRADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 3/25/2018 @ 2:54 pm“Conservatives”– if truly devoted to their ideals, should simply start their own party and embrace the principles they cherish, rather than play at trying to keep wagging the dog. If persuasive, winning ideas will win out in the end. But they may discover to their horror that there’s not nearly a many of them as their closed-circuit media has led them to believe.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/25/2018 @ 2:57 pma US company sues a Chinese company for patent infringement.
And suppose they win. The Chinese company “folds” and their assets are now owned by Chinese company #2. It’s not like the Chinese government is going to enforce a judgement. So sorry, not sorry.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:05 pmChristopher Ranch is in Gilroy, California Gilroy has a garlic fest every year it is very america
i love it very much
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:06 pmyou forgot [libel omitted] Mitt Romney…
Mitt Romney, alas, was never elected president. And, like the lying pedophile assh0le you are, you neglect to mention that Mitt was governor of a state with an 80% Democrat legislature.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:07 pmouch you have sharp elbows
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:09 pmHere’s a great article that starts with garlic, but then goes on to describe about a half dozen other types of agriculture products where Chinese are flagrantly violating import laws and regulations.
“They (the Chinese) are laughing at us.”
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:18 pm
Je ne veux pas salope deuxiemes!
Pinandpuller (16b0b5) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:18 pmhttps://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Illegal-Chinese-garlic-imports-pounding-U-S-5396865.php
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:18 pmSo clearly the omnibus puts a lie to that, h2b visas scholarships for Vietnam, on the executive front there is some more progress with pompeo and bolton
narciso (d1f714) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:20 pmCheck your DVDs Mr. Feet- that sort of ‘intellectual property’ may likely have been made in Mexico; Stormy’s. OTOH, more likely in the San Fernando Valley.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:23 pmstormy’s no good Mr. DCSCA
she’s dirty and infested with bad juices like Chineser honey
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:38 pm$72B out of the $150B spending increase in the omnibus goes to the DoD, Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security. It is foolish to let our military decay when we are facing the possibility of nuclear war (or the need to pre-empt it). Our navy in the Pacific is literally sinking due to lack of maintenance and training.
Faced with a similar existential struggle, Ronald Reagan made the correct decision, rebuilt the military, and won the Cold War. We should spend as little as possible – but no less.
Non-defense discretionary spending was 1.5% of GDP less in 2016 than it was in Y2K, the last year we had a surplus.
Yet government outlays, as a whole, ate up 3% of GDP MORE in 2016 than in 2000; the reasons: slightly more defense spending (+0.3% GDP) and a staggering increase in entitlements (+4.2% GDP).
There are three main items responsible for the budget deficit:
1) Entitlements
Dave (445e97) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:38 pm2) Entitlements
3) Entitlements
@7. srsly?
Only if you take or Captain srsly, Mr. Feet:
‘In 1988 at the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump was asked by Larry King on CNN: “You might be classified as an Eastern Republican, Rockefeller Republican. Fair?”, to which Donald Trump replied: “I guess you can say that”.’ – wikipedia
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:39 pmif your skeevy military “decays” on a half tril a year lol ur so boned
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:40 pm^or = our
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:40 pmi take our president, President Donald Trump, tremendously seriously
he’s the only one who really knew me at all
SO TAKE A LOOK AT ME NOW
CAUSE THERE’S JUST AN EMPTY SPACE
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:42 pm@30. Can you still sink a $14 billion aircraft carrier w/a few Exocet missiles at $2.5 million each, Mr. Feet?
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:43 pmlol pretty sure all you need anymore is a speed boat and a can-do attitude
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:45 pm@34. Can you still run an $800 billion/yr., organization amuck w/a few $200 laptops and a fist full of $6 thumb drives, Mr. Feet? Big spring sale at Office Depot!
“I’ll hazard I can do more damage on my laptop sitting in my pajamas before my first cup of Earl Grey than you can do in a year in the field.” – “Q” [Ben Whishaw] ‘Skyfall’ 2012
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:52 pmNBA teams release video calling for ‘accountability’ after shooting of unarmed black man
lol
trashy NBA thugsluts calling for accountability is like stormy daniels calling for a retake cause she wasn’t “feeling the character”
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:53 pm36 — they should watch the entire video — beginning with him breaking the window of his neighbor’s house.
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 3/25/2018 @ 3:57 pmAs for Trump and “nuclear war” watch this 2 minute Meet The Press segment from 1999 (when he was considering a Reform Party run) where a much younger Donald Trump explains quite clearly his attitude towards North Korea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQUaQo2j42Y
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/25/2018 @ 4:10 pm@27. Apparently our Captain thought she was pretty good, Mr. Feet– and when she was bad, she was better.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/25/2018 @ 4:16 pmI thought he was supposed to be a germophobe. Having relations with a thing like Stormy Daniels is the equivalent of putting on a used condom.
And then, there’s the practical aspect. After all the men those women have been with, it’s not only their morals which are loose. It would be like dipping a hot dog in a 5-gallon bucket.
nk (dbc370) — 3/25/2018 @ 4:22 pmshe thinks she’s special cause she has huge fake boobs and a boy put his pee pee inside her
cbs thinks she’s special cause she has huge fake boobs and a boy put his pee pee inside her
anderson cooper thinks she’s special cause she has huge fake boobs and a boy put his pee pee inside her
i say let’s wait and hear what she has to say
it might turn out she’s just a dirty prostitute what has sex for money a LOT
like all the time
like this is how she pays the rent
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/25/2018 @ 4:26 pmIf wishes were horses, we could form a posse and hunt these varmints down.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 3/25/2018 @ 4:27 pm40… dang it, nk, you know darn well they have every kind of procedure under the Sun these days, so they must have quimioplasty.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 3/25/2018 @ 4:31 pmAfter the mid terms let the impeachment hearings begin, should be great humor.
mg (9e54f8) — 3/25/2018 @ 4:33 pmunfortunately if that’s what it takes to rouse useless cowardpig John McCain from his stupor and start showing up for work again it just might be what we have to do Mr. mg
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/25/2018 @ 4:37 pmIf they stopped screwing with us we could make do with less.
https://www.aiche.org/chenected/2016/01/us-navy-green-fleet-makes-biofuels-new-normal
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 3/25/2018 @ 5:37 pmhappy, you cowardpig, the man is effing DYING. Think about your Karma.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/25/2018 @ 5:45 pmRip: Phillip Kerr,
narciso (d1f714) — 3/25/2018 @ 5:50 pmSo re queen would have ended the war on coal, pulled out of Paris accord, pulled put of the Iran deal, apparently going a ways to ending promise
narciso (d1f714) — 3/25/2018 @ 5:53 pmI’m back. Went to one of those Brazilian Steak Houses you guys were talking about. It’s called Nas Braza across from the old Willow Grove Naval Air Station. Gauchos running all over with spits of meat they shave onto your plate. Yuge salad bar and an excellent assortment of desserts. Food was very good but I just can no longer eat the amount that makes a place like that worth it. My wife invited a friend and the next thing I knew we were discussing building a new salon/spa. This time for men too. And on the Main Line. They want to invest a ton into an up-scale co-ed salon.
Anyway, I am very disappointed in Trump at this point because of the omnibus bill. The trade tariffs can sometimes be good or bad and I’ll need to evaluate them as the results come in. I can’t see the future.
I never expected much from Trump because the type of person he is. But as time progressed and he acted a little conservative I developed hope for the guy. I guess I was wrong. But I wouldn’t blame the conservatives for this debacle, I’d blame Trump and the same old GOP crap we’ve all come to know and loathe.
Rev.Hoagie (1b0402) — 3/25/2018 @ 5:58 pmThe first part of DCSCA’s comment I agree with, perhaps it’s time for us real conservatives to either make our own party or try and take over the GOP (which I thought was the TeaParty). I disagree that we will be horrified that we are not as numerous not as we think but as we wished. I know to be a conservative is a small minority of the Republican Party and the last even semi-conservative democrat died with Moynihan. I don’t know where DCSCA gets the idea we conservatives have a “closed circuit media” but you must have us confused with the leftists at CNNMSMNSABCCBSNBC and their co-conspirators in the press, Hollywood and academia because we don’t have a corner on a “closed circuit” anything let alone media. We have a couple guys on FOX (Hannity & Carlson) and a good number on radio but that’s it. All the heavyweights and power are owned by the left. Plus, they have millions to throw at “spontaneous” kids anti gun marches (while as usual not cleaning up the mess they make) while real conservatives spend money very sparingly since we don’t have 15 billionaires feeding us cash.
I think this is called9 bargaining:
narciso (d1f714) — 3/25/2018 @ 5:59 pmhttps://althouse.blogspot.com/2018/03/let-us-think-unthinkable-let-us-imagine.html
Possibly rev, recall though the tories did the best to coopt and smother the independence party message, subsequently revealing they believed none of it.
narciso (d1f714) — 3/25/2018 @ 6:02 pmIf wishes were fishes, I’d be swimming in riches.
Just thought I’d put a nautical bent on the saying.
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 3/25/2018 @ 6:07 pmThis was late in the game, in the last quarter in fact
http://articles.latimes.com/1987-04-18/news/mn-1024_1_computer-chips
narciso (d1f714) — 3/25/2018 @ 6:15 pmWhat do we have here?
https://mobile.twitter.com/minzengwsj/status/978048294109831168?p=v
narciso (d1f714) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:03 pmPart of the problem, Hoagie, is “what is a conservative?” Is a fiscal hawk who doesn’t care about social issues (e.g. Rand Paul) a “conservative”? Or how about Mike Huckabee, who cares deeply about each aborted Downs fetus but would spend every dime and then some?
Play this game a little bit and you get … the GOP.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:21 pmWhile we are taking a trip down memory lane with Patterico, a real conservative, let’s also remember that DCSCA is a self-identified GOP establishment Rockefeller Republican:
That is what DCSCA wrote in response to Patterico’s post about leaving the Republican Party, when Cruz dropped out and it was clear Trump would be the nominee. The New York GOP establishment doesn’t seem to like conservatives or conservative ideas.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:24 pmLink.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:25 pmNeither Boston nor pompeo are of that current, tillerson probably was:
http://dailycaller.com/2018/03/25/george-papadopoulos-london-emails
narciso (d1f714) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:26 pmThe only chips that Japan made that were worth anything were memory chips. They were effing HOPELESS when it came to microprocessors or anything that required serious design skills. They could FAB these things, but they could not design the things they fabbed.
In the end, they couldn’t even do that. There is no serious semiconductor company left in Japan, just the dying remnants of a few former players (e.g. Toshiba and Fujitsu memories). It’s TSMC, UMC, Intel, Micron and Global Foundries.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:28 pmQuestion: Is Trump more or less conservative than George W Bush?
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:30 pmIn terms of policy, I’d say more,
narciso (d1f714) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:32 pmHow many of you here were old enough to vote for Mary Kay Letourneau’s conservative father for president?
John G Schmitz
Pinandpuller (16b0b5) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:33 pm@57. Absolutely. Reads beter and bettr everytime! Will vote for Trump again– unless, of course… Oprah!
She’s as American as blueberry pie!
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:35 pmTrump is not a conservative. Dubya was.
Next question?
Dave (445e97) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:36 pmI took a PolySci class at UC Irvine when John was one of the other students. This was after he ran in ’72.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:36 pmBut, Dave, Dubya vetoes exactly ZERO spending bills and signed the Medicare expansion. He clarly was no fiscal conservative. Apparently you see the term referring only to social positions.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:38 pmHer brother works for Trump
Joe Schmitz
Pinandpuller (16b0b5) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:38 pmStill waiting for edit function.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:38 pmOMG! Well done ‘Miss Daniels!!!’
Hit the bricks, DeVos; Stormy should be the Secretary of Education!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCja9HCzzH4
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:38 pmPatterico, a real conservative
But Patterico has no real problem with gay marriage or some abortion, other than despising the PROCESS by which these things came to pass. How can he be a conservative without thumping the Bible?
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:40 pmPiker, we know how the patriarch of that branch ended his life.
narciso (d1f714) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:40 pmI, for one, am tired of all the winning.
Ed from SFV (d5c1ee) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:41 pmIs a 1973 Ford Pinto more or less conservative than a hot fudge sundae? The question is meaningless when applied to Trump.
nk (dbc370) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:48 pmNorth neat idea was an asterisk to compared with the Iran deal
http://m.jpost.com/Middle-East/Germany-stalls-Iran-talks-over-labeling-Hezbollah-as-terrorists-546713
narciso (d1f714) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:49 pmI keep forgetting that. That Trump is a 1973 Ford Pinto and the best we can expect is that we don’t all go up in flames.
nk (dbc370) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:49 pmnk
Lawyers calculated that paying claims was still cheaper than a recall.
Pinandpuller (c8aaae) — 3/25/2018 @ 7:57 pmLawyers don’t do those calculations, Pinandpuller. It’s the Upwardly Mobile Assholes in the grey flannel suits who need to present a quarterly P&L to their boards of directors.
nk (dbc370) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:04 pmI want Shannon Tweed for Lifetime Movie Stormy. I’ve got to see a post-op breast augmentation surgery montage of Stormy on the parallel bars learning how to walk again.
Then a Road Trip montage of her knocking things off shelves and kitchen counters.
Pinandpuller (16b0b5) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:11 pmDo you guys know that joke? If she had as many out as she had in she’d look like a porcupine.
Pinandpuller (16b0b5) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:14 pmGet a grip, Pinandpuller.
nk (dbc370) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:15 pm@79. I want Shannon Tweed for Lifetime Movie Stormy.
What? And give up showbiz!!? She’ll play herself, PP; she writes, ‘acts,’ and directs. Double D’s; triple threat.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:22 pmWhat? And give up showbiz!!? She’ll play herself, PP; she writes, ‘acts,’ and directs. Double D’s; triple threat.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:22 pm
What if her movie husband doesn’t fold the clothes right?
Pinandpuller (16b0b5) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:26 pmNo. Under Dubya, despite inheriting a recession, fighting a war, and passing across-the-board, pro-growth tax cuts, the budget deficit was under control until the housing bubble burst.
The medicare prescription benefit is a success. For a relatively modest cost, it has helped millions of senior citizens cover their prescription costs with private insurance programs that compete in the marketplace, as well as introducing other market-based elements to Medicare. It is stupid and wasteful to pay for people to see doctors, and then not be able to afford the prescriptions the doctors prescribe.
More generally, Dubya had a philosophy of limited government and a free-market. He courageously campaigned on, and fought hard for, a more sane Social Security system that would allow some benefits to pass on to survivors. Unfortunately, he wasn’t ultimately successful, thanks to Democratic scare-mongering, but together with the prescription drug benefit, this represented the only good faith attempt at market-based entitlement reform in last decades.
Dave (445e97) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:26 pmGet a grip, Pinandpuller.
nk (dbc370) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:15 pm
I used to work with some real crude people, mr nk.
Pinandpuller (16b0b5) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:31 pmWho else almost teared-up at the part where Trump told Stormy she reminded him of Ivanka?
Isn’t that sweet?
Dave (445e97) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:36 pmOh, I liked the joke. I was referring to your comment before that.
nk (dbc370) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:37 pmDave, are you actually following this farce?
nk (dbc370) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:38 pmWhat other things that come of ‘serohw mouths do you give credence to?
nk (dbc370) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:39 pmWhat a silly question.
Dave (445e97) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:40 pmI think Khan shaking the air strike and deir er zour where the Wagner group was pasted count as more deliberate gestures, now do we really want to go to war with russia.
Reagan didn’t, if he had to he would have crossing into West Germany, invading Saudi arabia
narciso (d1f714) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:40 pmWell, you know, there are the dirty, lying serohw, like Donald Trump, and then the “heart of gold” types.
Since it reinforces my biases, I’m pretending Ms. Daniels is the latter. Compared to Trump, and the sleazy lawyers involved, she’s as pure as the driven snow.
$130K hush money payments buy just a smidgen of credibility, don’t you think?
Dave (445e97) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:51 pmAnderson, I’m not one of those Tammy Wynette stay home and bake cookies Adult Film Stars.
Raw Dawg? Really? So who’s the crazy one, Stormy?
Pinandpuller (16b0b5) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:52 pmStormy is like the people who are mad they didn’t get front end points out of George Lucas. She wants 130k plus mailbox money? Sweetie, let’s get real here.
Pinandpuller (16b0b5) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:56 pmI agree that the party doesn’t stand for much, but I think that started long before Trump. Even Reagan granted amnesty to illegals and signed Simpson-Mazolli and spent a lot too. And the rest of Trump’s party, his declared party anyway, stand against him.
That’s why I stayed “undeclared” when I turned in my Democrat card. There is only Left and Lefter now.
Patricia (3363ec) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:59 pmThis joke works better in person but whatever
True Story:
My grandpa told my dad if you want to keep a woman happy, dicker.
I asked, is that one word or two?
Pinandpuller (16b0b5) — 3/25/2018 @ 8:59 pmPinandpuller, you’re going to h3ll for that joke, and especially for telling it on Palm Sunday.
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 3/25/2018 @ 9:11 pmLol, it’s not Palm Sunday somewhere.
Um, Stormy just said she got low-balled.
You just can’t make this stuff up.
Pinandpuller (16b0b5) — 3/25/2018 @ 9:13 pmTo be fair, Reagan didn’t understand just how gawd awful things were going to turn out because he was the first one who had done it.
He later admitted it was a disaster and he regretted doing it.
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 3/25/2018 @ 9:14 pmTake John kasich, he’s a blanc mange on most issues, John weaver wouldn’t work with him otherwise.
narciso (d1f714) — 3/25/2018 @ 9:15 pm@93. She’s a smart cookie all the same, PP.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/25/2018 @ 9:25 pmSmarter than her fans at least.
— What do you call two TV networks bidding for her exclusive interview?
nk (dbc370) — 3/25/2018 @ 9:30 pm— Tug of w**re.
https://mobile.twitter.com/alimhaider/status/978023315624333317
narciso (d1f714) — 3/25/2018 @ 9:31 pmTrump was an idiot for not wearing protection.
AZ Bob (f60c80) — 3/25/2018 @ 9:37 pm@93. She’s a smart cookie all the same, PP.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/25/2018 @ 9:25 pm
Or a Limp Bizkit.
Pinandpuller (16b0b5) — 3/25/2018 @ 9:49 pmShe fell on The Fusilli Donny
Million to one shot, Stormy.
Million to one shot.
Pinandpuller (16b0b5) — 3/25/2018 @ 9:50 pmIs Anderson Cooper playing for CNN and CBS now?
Pinandpuller (16b0b5) — 3/25/2018 @ 9:56 pmWhat happened to Larry Flynt? He used to get more rebounds than Wilt Chamberlin.
Pinandpuller (16b0b5) — 3/25/2018 @ 10:01 pmOur host wrote, near the conclusion of this post:
I was pretty much with him to that point (although I think this post paints “Republicans” with way too broad a brush). I opposed Trump’s nomination; I will oppose his re-nomination. But “chuck the party itself overboard” is advice I don’t intend to follow, and that I recommend against.
We live in a two-party system. Work in that, or be consigned to futility with no hope of relief therefrom. I do not write this lightly: My great-grandfather, grandfather, and father were Texas Republicans going back to 1870s, and throughout all of their lives, with the exception of the last 20 years of my father’s life, being a Texas Republican meant that you were very much out of step with your fellow Texans, because throughout those decades Texas was a one-party state controlled by the Democrats. But they believed in the system, and now Texas is a well-run, well-governed GOP dominated state for the most part, for now.
Our host can be excused for forgetting — as this post entirely does — that the two parties are significant at the state level too. Abandoning the GOP, for a Texan, has costs that abandoning the GOP in California perhaps doesn’t.
Regardless: I hope our host will eventually reconsider how much more effective an advocate he could be for his views if became the prodigal son, returned, rather than the apostate railing from outside.
Beldar (fa637a) — 3/25/2018 @ 10:11 pmFor sure Steve57. No one knew the depths of the Democrat’s machinations then.
Patricia (3363ec) — 3/25/2018 @ 10:16 pm@93. She’s a smart cookie all the same, PP.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/25/2018 @ 9:25 pm
Remember that black girl celebrating Obama’s gonna pay for her gas and her mortgage?
papertiger (c8116c) — 3/25/2018 @ 10:21 pmStormy Daniels is the Republican version.
Actually, Beldar, Patterico’s desire to be Independent strikes me as normal for a conservative who probably leans right on most issues, but doesn’t like the current Republican leader(s).
By the way, here is the list of issues/questions that Pew asks to tell the difference between conservatives and liberals. I was surprised Pew doesn’t ask anything about abortion but otherwise they seem fair.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/25/2018 @ 10:29 pm“Independents” are interested, impotent bystanders, DRJ. And their criticisms of either party aren’t likely to get any traction inside either party precisely because they’re coming from outside the party.
Beldar (fa637a) — 3/25/2018 @ 10:44 pmI disagree that Trump leans right on most issues. Some, yes.
He warned us, didn’t he?
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-doesnt-mind-being-free-agent-if-senate-gop-majority-falls/article/2596399
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 3/25/2018 @ 10:50 pmWell, I guess it depends on whether his goal is to influence the Party or distance himself from the Party. Probably the latter.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/25/2018 @ 10:56 pm107.Is Anderson Cooper playing for CNN and CBS now?
Discovery was chummed for Shark Week, too. A hook was baited; some nibbling, but no bite– so somebody grabbed their purse and flippered off.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/25/2018 @ 10:58 pmRemember that black girl celebrating Obama’s gonna pay for her gas and her mortgage?
Stormy Daniels is the Republican version.
papertiger (c8116c) — 3/25/2018 @ 10:21 pm
Brilliant, mr papertiger. Do you have an over under for when Stormy’s dad/stepdad comes back in the picture?
Pinandpuller (8527c2) — 3/26/2018 @ 12:06 amDiscovery was chummed for Shark Week, too. A hook was baited; some nibbling, but no bite– so somebody grabbed their purse and flippered off.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/25/2018 @ 10:58 pm
Take a tack from SS Clinton: Belay! Belay! Belay!
Pinandpuller (8527c2) — 3/26/2018 @ 12:07 amI didn’t even realize the magnitude of whatever Stormy did or didn’t do with Trump until I was driving home. She only got paid to sign the NDA. She did everything else on spec.
Pinandpuller (8527c2) — 3/26/2018 @ 12:11 amMr Beldar, do you have any input on how damages might be calculated in a NDA breach situation? Is it usually spelled out in the contract or is there another factor similar to libel where the monetary damages can be hashed out by the judge?
I think Stormy said she was pressured by her studio and their lawyers to make what she admits is a false statement about how nothing really happened with Trump. Can a third party not signed onto an NDA get pulled in too? I’m guessing the Trump lawyers would just use this statement to go at her. She would have no choice but to testify, right? Or is it going to mediation if a judge throws out the NDA?
In a civil case both parties will have to be cross examined, correct?
Pinandpuller (8527c2) — 3/26/2018 @ 12:29 amDave, are you actually following this farce?
What a silly question.
Dave follows all farces.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/26/2018 @ 12:33 amWe live in a two-party system. Work in that, or be consigned to futility with no hope of relief therefrom.
Having spent the 90’s in the Libertarian Party, even running for the state assembly one year, I can attest the truth of this.
Now, there is, at some rare moments, a chance to supplant a major party if they lose their way badly enough. But it HAS to be with a BROAD-BASED alternative, which pretty much leaves out Parties of Principles, which ALWAYS end up in a mad dash for the most principled fringe.
The Reform Party of 1992 had a chance, and if their candidate had been consistent and, well, sane, they might have actually won. Perot led the polls in the spring.
California’s GOP is moribund. It is conceivable that a new party that avoids the social issue pathology that keeps the national Republicans out of office in CA, but offers a fiscal alternative to the CRAZY & CRAZIER Democrats might stand a chance. Perhaps they call themselves the “Federalists”, in the modern sense of the word.
But failing those rare moments, there are only two games in town.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/26/2018 @ 12:42 am“Independents” are interested, impotent bystanders, DRJ. And their criticisms of either party aren’t likely to get any traction inside either party precisely because they’re coming from outside the party.
This is mostly true, except that CA’s jungle ballot makes party registration far less important.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/26/2018 @ 12:44 amOMG, I can’t believe that Anderson Cooper and this Avenatti guy don’t know that the term “Welching” is a terrible slur on my people, The Welsh. GFY dude.
Will Mueller start probing the Stormy Daniels matter?
Why believe her? “Because I have no reason to lie.” “I could be shunned. I could alienate half of my fanbase.” Stormy Danger
Pinandpuller (8527c2) — 3/26/2018 @ 12:45 amThe nice thing about being a shark is that you don’t have to remind people you’re a shark.
If you’re a shark, everybody knows you’re a shark.
Which can be a bad thing if the Orcas find you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwMynxeAuhQ
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 3/26/2018 @ 1:07 amThe fact that Donald Trump is president is America’s biggest problem, and conservatism’s biggest problem, as far as I’m concerned.
Anything that might help solve that problem is important.
Dave (445e97) — 3/26/2018 @ 1:25 amThey have some agreement that allows him to appear on 60 Minutes. He has done segments on the show before.
Dave (445e97) — 3/26/2018 @ 1:32 amBut, Dave, you aren’t a conservative. You’re OK with W’s entitlement expansion, for starters and I kinda doubt you care even as much as I do (very little) about social issues.
Your concern is noted though.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/26/2018 @ 1:34 amBeldar, is there anything the head of the Republican Party could do or say that would make you follow Patrick (and me) to the exit?
If David Duke or Richard Spencer were nominated and elected president by the GOP, would you remain a member?
“Some men change their party for the sake of their principles; others their principles for the sake of their party.” – Winston Churchill
I’m not suggesting that you have forsaken your principles, but I think you’ll admit there’s a real danger, and that no small number have fallen prey to it.
Dave (445e97) — 3/26/2018 @ 1:50 amPfft.
Dubya didn’t invent the problem, he dealt with it in the most market-oriented and minimalist way possible. Do you deny it’s a problem if we pay for old people to see doctors, but they have to choose between eating and buying their prescriptions? By spending a small amount of money, he greatly improved the benefit of the huge amount we were already spending. And he did it in a way that used market competition among private insurance plans, and avoided price caps and other heavy-handed solutions that would have stifled the profit motive for innovation.
Being conservative doesn’t mean ignoring problems. That’s not conservatism – that’s stupidity. It means solving them in the least intrusive and most freedom-preserving way. There was an undeniable problem, and Dubya made a good faith (and largely successful) effort to deal with it by applying conservative principles. That’s how you’re supposed to lead.
I am uncomfortable with conflating the modern innovation of gay partnerships with the millenia-old traditional institution of marriage (I think gay “marriage” should be called something other than marriage), and I’m opposed to abortion. Both of those issues have been removed (improperly, in my view) from the political arena; it seems pointless to me to refight battles where there’s no hope of victory.
I do think the right has a blind-spot about abortion in much the same way the left does about gun control. Just as outlawing guns will not take guns out of the hands of criminals, outlawing abortion would not stop the killing of the unborn. But it’s a moot question.
Dave (445e97) — 3/26/2018 @ 2:36 amHoax! Trump says it never happened.
Fake news; fake memos; fake orgasm, eh, Captain, sir!
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/26/2018 @ 2:36 amSuppose Adolph Hitler rose from the grave and became the GOP nominee?
Each party is so broad-based that extremes are unlikely. Or do you REALLY think that Donald Trump is David Duke or Hitler? Patterico clearly does not.
Near as I can tell, Pat finds Trump to be closer to Nixon in outlook, although about 50 IQ points short of that mark, with the side issue of being a nekulturny vulgarian. As such, there are things that he will like, and things he will dislike. But it isn’t the end of the effing republic. He just chooses not to be associated with a party that is moving in Trump’s direction.
But here’s the thing: Trump is not outside the GOP mainstream. The GOP is not, has never been, and never will be a “conservative” party. It is right-of-center, which includes Cruz, Trump, Ryan, Rand, Rubio, Kasich and Romney. Right now the pragmatist wing, moribund since Ford, is in ascendance. It won’t always be that way.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/26/2018 @ 2:41 amI slightly agree. I think that churches should stop acting as agents of the state in “marriage” and simply conduct ceremonies consecrating unions before God. If people want to have legal standing the should consult Caesar, not God. Perhaps they call their ceremony “matrimony” and abandon the word marriage entirely.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/26/2018 @ 2:46 amMore clearly: Perhaps the churches call their ceremony “matrimony” and abandon the word marriage entirely.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/26/2018 @ 2:46 amIn “Do the Right Thing: Cognitive Science’s Search for a Common Morality,” Rebecca Saxe distinguishes between “conventional” and “moral” rules. Conventional rules are supported by authorities but can be changed; moral rules, on the other hand, are not based on conventional authority and are not subject to change. “Even three-year-old children … distinguish between moral and conventional transgressions,” she writes. The only exception, according to James Blair of the National Institutes of Health, are psychopaths, who exhibit “persistent aggressive behavior.” For them, all rules are based only on external authority, in whose absence “anything is permissible.” The conclusion drawn from this is that “healthy individuals in all cultures respect the distinction between conventional … and moral [rules].”
However, in the same article, another anthropologist argues that “the special status of moral rules cannot be part of human nature, but is … just … an artifact of Western values.” Anita Jacobson-Widding, writing of her experiences among the Manyika of Zimbabwe, says:
“I tried to find a word that would correspond to the English concept of ‘morality.’ I explained what I meant by asking my informants to describe the norms for good behavior toward other people. The answer was unanimous. The word for this was tsika. But when I asked my bilingual informants to translate tsika into English, they said that it was ‘good manners’ …”
Morality and Abstract Thinking Gedaliah Braun
Pinandpuller (8527c2) — 3/26/2018 @ 2:49 amNo, they just retweet the same white supremacist propaganda from time to time.
It’s not just IQ. Nixon worked his ass off; he studied policy issues; he thought about things; he did his best to get it right. To Trump, it’s just a TV role he’s trying to fake his way through.
Time will tell.
By demonstrating how easily a man of the lowest character and ability can be elected to the highest office, the harm he’s already done is immeasurable. It’s too much to hope that the next Trump will be equally lazy and incompetent.
It’s true, Patrick’s objections to Trump appear to have more basis in policy than mine.
If I agreed with Donald Trump on every single political issue, right down the line, I would still be unable to support him. No freaking way.
Dave (445e97) — 3/26/2018 @ 3:24 amBy the way, to go back to my question to Beldar, it should have been clear that I think Duke and Spencer are worse than Trump, at least from an ideological perspective (there’s plenty of room for other extremists to the right of Trump; whether there’s any room below him – on the scale of morality – is much less clear).
That’s why I asked the question: if Trump isn’t bad enough, what (if anything) would be bad enough?
Dave (445e97) — 3/26/2018 @ 3:32 amSeoul to expand auto market for U.S. in return for steel tariff exemption
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/26/2018 @ 4:12 amEnough already, happyfeet…. that “pedophile Mitt Romney” stuff of yours is getting real creepy.
noel (b4d580) — 3/26/2018 @ 4:21 amI have to agree with the commenter above who suggests the GOP is no more about Trumpism than they were about Bushism, they just say and do whatever it takes to get elected. As a young man, I had some hopes that Reagan represented a resurgence of Goldwater Republicanism but his nomination of silk-stocking Bush gave me pause. When the GOP nominated Bush to follow Reagan rather than Jack Kemp (he of Kemp-Roth) I left the GOP because I knew all their talk of “small government” was just a sham. The GOP is just as big-government as the Democrats, they just disagree about what it is the government should be doing. There’s a place in the GOP for those of us who think the government shouldn’t be doing half the stuff it’s doing, but it’s over in the corner where we’re free to chat amongst ourselves but when it comes to voting we’re expected to bite our tongues and quash our principles and vote for the At-Least-He’s-Not-A-Democrat big-government lib the GOP shoves down our throat. Voting for the lesser of two evils is still voting for evil and the speed with which you get to Hell is of little consequence when the destination is the same either way.
Jerryskids (cfad51) — 3/26/2018 @ 4:34 amSteve57
Reagan was fully aware of what he was doing he was warned repeatedly by Dole. His terms as gov were very progressive, he signed the nations first restrictive gun control laws, abortion laws.
EPWJ (4dc563) — 3/26/2018 @ 4:44 amSheesh! Reagan kept his eye on the prize. Bring down the Soviet Union! And he did.
What prize does the orange-skinned pansy have his eye on? Getting another $100 million each from the Devoses, the Mercers and the Adelsons for his re-election, Chinese investors for the Kushners’ real estate projects, and Chinese trademark protection for Ivanka’s schlock?
nk (dbc370) — 3/26/2018 @ 5:23 amAmerica is too great to dream small meatloafs with a Diet Coke!
nk (dbc370) — 3/26/2018 @ 5:35 amyet another slimy p.o.s. republican congressman is retiring
Ryan Costello says Stormy Daniels and her giant boobies have made it really hard for him to stay focused on his duties
and once again?
it’s a member of useless doddering John McCain’s soros-funded Republican Main street Partnership
Ryan Costello joins:
if you didn’t know better you’d think cowardpig slutboy john mccain is having everyone retire so they can throw the house to pelosi
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/26/2018 @ 5:37 am“I said goodbye to the Republican party on May 3, 2016, the day Ted Cruz dropped out:” …………… aren’t you BRAVE!
Mock (fc6d93) — 3/26/2018 @ 5:39 amDoes it matter to Republicans if their President lies, cheats, belittles, makes up conspiracies and runs a fake University? How about protectionism? Attacking a free press? Admiring dictators? Does it matter if their Senate candidate is credibly accused of assaulting underage girls?
No, no and no. No again, Nope. Nada.
Give us tax cuts and a Supreme Court that votes my way. That’s all that matters. Now, the problem is, there are no acceptable and unacceptable standards for candidates anymore. This is the new normal. And it’s not Donald Trump’s fault. We are allowing this.
I know that some of you will say “Oh Noel, you’re a leftist, Hillary lover.” Blah blah. Whatever. I get it. I wouldn’t want to take responsibility for this either. You don’t have the guts to demand that he behave in a legal and ethical manner.
noel (b4d580) — 3/26/2018 @ 5:41 amIt just so happens that I know better, and the reason they’re retiring is that coward pig slutboy Roy Cohn fellating Cadet Bone Spurs has made the word Republican a foul stench in the noses of a lot of voters and they want to leave because nobody really wants to vote for them anymore.
nk (dbc370) — 3/26/2018 @ 5:42 ami think you’re bias on president trump
he’s actually a wonderful man who brings the new paradigms
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/26/2018 @ 5:44 amActually, I found myself mellowing about him, yesterday. It could be because my Bactrim was finally kicking in; because it was Sunday, the Annunciation, and Greek Indpendence Day; or, and this is the most likely reason, because Trump is 1,000 miles (literally) away from the White House.
nk (dbc370) — 3/26/2018 @ 5:52 amthat’s good to hear
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/26/2018 @ 5:58 amThis reminds me of an old Western story I saw on Super Chicken. A gunman is having a drink in the saloon, when something a cowboy says [It doesn’t matter what! Focus!] brings up the subject of how fast he is. The gunman takes out a coin and says, “Just keep your eye on this coin”. He flips the coin into the air, and as the cowboy is watching it, he draws his gun and shoots the cowboy. And the moral of the story is: Never trust a man who throws money around.
nk (dbc370) — 3/26/2018 @ 6:31 amKevin M and shipwreckedcrew argue that the tariffs are really about intellectual property. Kevin M specifically says:
I believe it is indeed protectionism, and I don’t believe I am misinformed. Donald Trump repeatedly cites the “trade deficit” as the reason for tariffs. Section 301 is just the excuse.
However, since no informed person still argues that tariffs confer an economic benefit — although too few people recognize that they hurt far more Americans than they help — let’s address this second intellectual property argument.
In the Don Boudreaux video I posted a while ago, he notes that issues like this can be dealt with in ways other than tariffs, and are a red herring designed to disguise the fact that most tariffs are indeed rank protectionism:
Make the case, with specifics, as to what is being stolen and by whom, and then address that. How is a tariff on steel and aluminum addressing theft of intellectual property? Did they steal our plans for making steel?
Patterico (115b1f) — 3/26/2018 @ 6:56 amHistory does rhyme nk, so we see another swamp dweller in halper tried to bait papadop, with what apparently was an open secret
narciso (d1f714) — 3/26/2018 @ 7:03 amMeanwhile, it’s nice to see everyone got over Trump signing the omnibus. That was quick. Even quicker than I expected.
Patterico (115b1f) — 3/26/2018 @ 7:04 amthe logic what supports the argument that tariffs should be abolished also supports the argument that any and all limitations on immigration should be abolished
i abjure this thinking cause it is no good and also it is overly dogmatic
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/26/2018 @ 7:04 amhistory specifically rhymes with mystery Mr. narciso
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/26/2018 @ 7:06 amEssentially correct, now as we see the tariff is more a tool of leverage, economic clausewitzidm
narciso (d1f714) — 3/26/2018 @ 7:09 amPatterico, I think folks are much more interested in Stormy Daniel’s pupil dilation during an interview, according to Gateway Pundit.
My head hurts.
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 3/26/2018 @ 7:11 amIt took the 1,000 Tidepod Muncher March off the top of Google News, anyway.
nk (dbc370) — 3/26/2018 @ 7:12 amI’m not interested at all, simon, but she’s the shiny squirrel Viacom has put in front of us,
narciso (d1f714) — 3/26/2018 @ 7:13 amP.S. Patterico (re #154): it breaks my heart to see people acting just like the folks they didn’t care for on Team D. We have all become cheerleaders, I guess.
Stage 1: my candidate believes in “X.”
Stage 2: my candidate didn’t really vote against “X,” it just looks that way.
Stage 3: besides, the other, much worse, people made my candidate vote against “X.”
Stage 4: (ignore what happened).
Repeat as needed.
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 3/26/2018 @ 7:13 amDo you mean “got over” as in liking it, accepting it, not caring about it, or something else?
DRJ (15874d) — 3/26/2018 @ 7:16 amI would rather speak of the sacrifice of colonel beltraime, the positives of Bolton and pompeo, but whatever floats the biat
narciso (d1f714) — 3/26/2018 @ 7:16 amI think it’s despicable that a creature like that should even be mentioned without spitting, let alone given a platform on major media to tell salacious stories about a U.S. President, but I’m in maybe 1% of the population who thinks that. If that many.
nk (dbc370) — 3/26/2018 @ 7:18 amAnd yet I am against open borders. Hmmm.
Patterico (115b1f) — 3/26/2018 @ 7:18 amSpeaking of things that are nice to see:
BuDuh (fc15db) — 3/26/2018 @ 7:19 amSo it turns the Orlando shooters father was an fbi informant, in the terms of Mueller and comey. if whitey bulger had a son?
narciso (d1f714) — 3/26/2018 @ 7:23 am“I am considering a VETO of the Omnibus Spending Bill based on the fact that the 800,000 plus DACA recipients have been totally abandoned by the Democrats ( not even mentioned in Bill) and the BORDER WALL, which is desperately needed for our National Defense, is not fully funded,” Trump tweeted.
And hours later…..
noel (b4d580) — 3/26/2018 @ 7:29 am….one of his other personalities took over.
noel (b4d580) — 3/26/2018 @ 7:33 amWhy is that nice to see? How does that help us get along with Russia? Remember: getting along with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing:
(And yes, I do agree it’s a good thing. Another good thing would have been to bring up the attempted assassination on the phone directly. This strikes me as a far more wussy way of handling it. But it’s better than absolutely nothing.)
Patterico (115b1f) — 3/26/2018 @ 8:03 amMAGA! Winning!
That was sarcasm.
nk (dbc370) — 3/26/2018 @ 8:13 amI did notice that on my own, actually.
Patterico (115b1f) — 3/26/2018 @ 9:26 amthis is interesting but vague
russians are dangerous they use poison to kill people who get in their way and they’re very haughty
thank goodness our president, President Donald Trump, is moving decisively to confront the red menace head on (unlike president food stamp who just looked the other way)
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/26/2018 @ 9:43 amPupil dilation is part of the autonomic system. Our son has synchronous from a brain injury, but it can also be triggered by emotions like the fight or flight response:
She was probably feeling stress. Or they lowered the lighting. That would make her pupils dilate, too.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/26/2018 @ 9:59 amDysautonomia, not synchronous. Sorry.
DRJ (15874d) — 3/26/2018 @ 10:00 amOh yes, Sooooo nice. Unless you have family in Russia that you’d like to see and can not because the two countries are both busy expelling the people who submit and approve visa applications…. that’s right, let’s hit the little people because that’s oh so helpful.
Marci (fbaa8c) — 3/26/2018 @ 11:15 am#152: Boring appeal to authority, and an authority that is widely unrecognized to boot. You’d have a tough time getting him accepted in court as an expert witness. Just because he’s your goto guy right now does not make him mine.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/26/2018 @ 11:21 amShe’s obviously not a model of probity. That much is obvious.
Patterico (f82c2d) — 3/26/2018 @ 11:24 amBTW, what in the world ARE “Republican Principles” anyway? Are we talking about Dole’s or Reagan’s or Rubio’s or Kasich’s or Cruz’s or Trump’s? Or is there some Golden Age when Men were Men and only Truth was spoken?
Neither party has EVER had any meaningful principles. They are two big-tent parties that wither and die every time they try to narrow their focus to constricting things like “Principles.” See Goldwater for a prime example.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/26/2018 @ 11:25 amThat’s standard diplomatic protocol, we want to go after svr operatives in a third country, that could get messy real quick.
narciso (d1f714) — 3/26/2018 @ 11:27 amLOL um no I wouldn’t
Patterico (115b1f) — 3/26/2018 @ 11:43 amJust because you are unfamiliar with Don Boudreaux does not mean he is widely unrecognized. It means you aren’t familiar with that many modern free-market economic thinkers.
Patterico (115b1f) — 3/26/2018 @ 11:44 amThe choice is yours.
Looks like the GOP has made it’s decision; CNN poll today– after chaotic month, Trump approval rating is up. Go figure.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/26/2018 @ 1:13 pmCNN Poll: 42% approve of Trump, highest in 11 months
By Jennifer Agiesta, CNN Polling Director
Updated 4:10 PM ET, Mon March 26, 2018
WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s approval rating has rebounded to its highest level since the 100-day mark of his presidency, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, even as his approval ratings for handling major issues remain largely negative.
Overall, 42% approve of the way Trump is handling the presidency, 54% disapprove. Approval is up 7 points overall since February, including 6-point increases among Republicans (from 80% to 86% now) and independents (from 35% to 41% now). Trump’s approval rating remains below that of all of his modern-era predecessors at this stage in their first term after being elected, though Trump only trails Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama by a narrow 4 points at this point in their first terms. – http://www.cnn.com
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/26/2018 @ 1:30 pm“It’s my party and I’ll lie if I want to;
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/26/2018 @ 3:30 pmLie if I want to; lie if I want to.
You would lie too if it happened to you.”
Seriously… a lot of attacks on Trump are based on either misinterpretations, or wilful misrepresentations. For example, Trump exaggerates. To some people, that is simply intolerable. Why, I don’t now – the guy’s a deal maker, not a diplomat, but apparently the rule now is that all presidents must be soft spoken and never exaggerate (in an obvious way). That worked really well – Obama was wonderful, wasn’t he.
But, a lot of these attacks are because people continue to “understand” Trump by treating what he says as if Obama or George H. W. Bush said it – every word carefully calibrated to transmit meaning to wordsmiths.
Trump, on the other hand, transmits persuasion. And, he transmits strategic deflection – “look here at my exaggeration, [while not noticing that I am quietly draining the swamp and rolling back regulation].” That works against the main stream media, but too many conservatives make the same mistake the media does, and their reactions are indistinguishable from those of the swamp critters of D.C. f
I am so tired of Republicans constantly attacking Trump, that I’m glad that Patterico isn’t one of them.
Now, I’m not a super Trump fan, and I think a whole lot of us who voted for him are not. But rather than simply turn up our noses at the disgraceful person in office, we rationally chose to take a chance rather than simply turning over our government to the forces of progressivism and oppression. And, ya know what? So far, we are way ahead.
So stop grumbling and look at the bright side. Yeah, I hate the budget bill too. And yeah, I voted for Cruz in the primaries.
But if Cruz had run in the general, we’d be turning our guns over to the minions of Queen Hillary, and then attending weekly confession and re-education sessions to turn us into mindless progressives.
John (8829b1) — 3/26/2018 @ 7:52 pmKeep flailing, ASPCA. CNN? Really?
LOL.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 3/26/2018 @ 7:59 pmJust because you are unfamiliar with Don Boudreaux does not mean he is widely unrecognized. It means you aren’t familiar with that many modern free-market economic thinkers.
1) I have been hearing this same line since I was in high school. I largely agree with it, but in this case I do not see why doing business with people who steal from you and sell you back your own goods makes any sense at all.
Last I looked”free-market thinkers” felt that governments should protect property rights, and ONLY governments can protect intellectual property rights. There are some folks who dislike intellectual property but for the most part this is because they dislike government and anything that flows from government. Anarcho-capitalists, if you will.
2) If you go read the commentary surrounding these tariffs, you will see that many people discuss them in terms of China’s behavior with intellectual property, not only in outright theft, but also in predicating access to their markets with surrender of intellectual property rights. AKA extortion.
3) North Korea. Anything that the US does to China from now on is, in part, to do with convincing them to do something about North Korea. We don’t want to CALL these tariffs “sanctions” but in part that is what they are. There isn’t anything more we can usefully do economically wrt NK. Trump may be unprincipled, but he DOES know how to squeeze the other guy to get what he wants. He has said that it sure would make a lot of these trade issues easier if only China would beat some sense into Dear Leader.
4) You will notice that the Steel tariffs have been dropped against nearly everyone other than China. They’re really only symbolic anyway.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/26/2018 @ 8:56 pmAnd I wonder just how readily a SoCal court would accept a libertarian type as an economic expert. Maybe they just look at credentials and would accept Marxists, too. Speaks more about the courts than the experts.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/26/2018 @ 9:00 pmPost hoc ergo propter hoc department: Kim Jong Un “visits” Beijing.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/26/2018 @ 11:51 pm@187. =Haiku= Gesundheit! Really?
Reality.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/27/2018 @ 12:27 amKevin M – I think it’s more likely that the state Democratic party will openly fission into two mutually hostile wings who compete for state office but then come together against the Republicans for Presidential elections.
aphrael (3f0569) — 3/28/2018 @ 12:16 pmaprhrael–
That’s not sustainable. That happened in the US in the 1820s, with a Jackson wing and a Adams wing. In the end, the anti-Jackson folks became the Whigs, and then that collapsed too and the Republcians were formed.
The current setup in CA makes forming new parties easy. Mostly they are fringe parties but now there is an open niche for a new broad-based party. Fiscally conservative, socially agnostic with a tinge of libertarianism and a platform that argues for more state autonomy and a smaller federal government. This window will be open as long as Trump is in office.
Kevin M (752a26) — 3/28/2018 @ 9:25 pm