Patterico's Pontifications

1/17/2016

Kevin D. Williamson Stumbles on Cruz and “New York Values”

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 1:36 pm



I have said that I think Ted Cruz’s attack on “New York values” was a mistake. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with attacking a leftist ideology, it’s that you attack the ideology and not an area of the country. He should have attacked New York leftists and not New York generally. That said, Kevin D. Williamson, who I generally like, had an piece about this whole kerfuffle this morning in National Review that I disagreed with quite strongly:

Courting the boob vote, Cruz is campaigning as a boob, a project complicated by the fact that there is a much bigger boob in the race: Donald Trump. Cruz, an affluent Ivy Leaguer, needed to distinguish himself from Trump, a very rich Ivy Leaguer, and what he came up with was: “New York values.” A Republican presidential candidate need not trouble himself too much about New York’s votes in the Electoral College, and Trump himself had used the phrase to characterize his many departures from the traditional conservatism of the Republican party, of which he is a freshly minted member. Cruz, canny politician that he is, never bothered to go into much detail about what is meant by “New York values.” Sneering at them was enough.

This is just false. Williamson’s piece was published today, and so he clearly had time to see the detail that Dana already noted in her post from two days ago:

“I apologize to the hard working men and women of the state of New York who’ve been denied jobs because Gov. Cuomo won’t allow fracking,” Cruz continued. “I apologize to all the pro-life and pro-marriage and pro-Second Amendment New Yorkers who were told by Gov. Cuomo that they have no place in New York because that’s not who New Yorkers are. I apologize to all of the small businesses who’ve been driven out of New York City by crushing taxes and regulations.

“I apologize to all of the African-American children who Mayor de Blasio tried to throw out of their charter schools instead of providing a lifeline at the American dream. And I apologize to all the cops and the firefighters and 9/11 heroes who had no choice but to stand and turn their backs on Mayor de Blasio because Mayor de Blasio over and over again stands with the looters and criminals rather than the brave men and women of blue.”

That’s plenty of detail about what Cruz meant, and Williamson has to have known about Cruz’s “apology.” It gets worse:

Our cities are disproportionately black, but they are not disproportionately Martian. Our cities have many immigrants, but not immigrants from the Land of People Who Don’t Care About Their Kids and Really Like Paying High Taxes. Ask a black Democrat in the Bronx working to support a family whether he’d prefer to make more money or less, to keep more of his money or less, to have more economic security or less, for his children to have more educational opportunities or fewer, and he will give the same answers as any plaid-panted Brooks Brothers specimen haunting the Merion Cricket Club — or any white oilman running a fracking rig in the Eagle Ford shale. His values are New York values, too.

Oh, come on. Sure, all Americans want to have a lot of stuff and pay nothing, but those aren’t “values.” That’s just ignorance.

I’ll say the obvious thing that Williamson is gently avoiding: the Bronx Democrat of whom he speaks wants government to take care of people soup to nuts. He wants a large government, and wants to pay for it by soaking the rich. These are, quite simply, not limited-government values.

Let’s not pretend that we can all hold hands and sing Kumbaya because in our hearts, we all have the same values. Some people want government to do too much, and some of us want government to do a lot less. There are real differences here.

That said, the way Cruz phrased his attack was disappointing and a mistake. He is campaigning to be President of the entire United States, not just rural evangelicals. I want him to be forceful about his principles and to articulate them strongly, but I also want him to build bridges and be inclusive to those who are willing to support limited government. Attacking an entire city, as opposed to an ideology, is not the way to do that.

247 Responses to “Kevin D. Williamson Stumbles on Cruz and “New York Values””

  1. Ding.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  2. As I noted the other day,
    I think for all of us outside of NYC,
    “New York” means Manhattan elites
    (or Manhattan slums)

    “New York” values are what Gov. Cuomo likes ,
    The opposite of us bitter clingers

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84)

  3. The more I think about it, I don’t think the New York values was really a mistake. I think it was an easy way to distinguish between what Trump represents and what Cruz represents.

    Like it or not, if Cruz doesn’t win the primary, he doesn’t even have a chance for this to hurt him in the general election. Plus, anyone claiming offense from it has to talk about the meaning of the phrase, which gets people talking about what those liberal values are.

    I think the comment was designed to erode Trump’s primary numbers.

    Dejectedhead (81f962)

  4. To me, it smacks too much of the 47% comment by Romney — which was accurate in terms of describing the percentage of moochers, but infelicitous in seeming to write off those people as folks he didn’t care about.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  5. what rural trailer park enthusiast senator ted is missing is that Mr. The Donald had *already surmounted* the stigma of having “new york values”

    i stopped calling him a sleazy manhattantrash p.o.s. like weeks and weeks ago

    he belied that characterization is why

    that’s why he’s leading in the polls!

    question though

    has trailer park Ted surmounted the stigma of harvardtrash values?

    I’m a ponder that while i read my bible i think

    happyfeet (831175)

  6. It’s funny how, in this whole kerfuffle over nothing, people aren’t paying attention to the part of Cruz’s statement in the debate that was, to me, genuinely irksome– the idea that he doesn’t like New York values because of the “focus on media and money.” That’s different from critiquing liberal NYC policies/ideology which I think he can do all he wants. And from a guy who is a) very good at getting media attention and b) let’s just say did not go out of his way to mention his loan from Goldman Sachs while portraying his senate campaign as a heroic risk of his own money, it just smacks of hypocrisy/demagoguery. But, not the biggest deal in the world

    Michael (48d854)

  7. IMHO, Cruz would have been fine if he’d said “New York liberal values” or similar, but to make it a slam against a region in general is not okay (the exception being DC). The liberal version of Cruz’s gaff was “flyover country”.

    IMHO, this won’t hurt Cruz much, and might even help him in Iowa. Time will tell.

    Arizona CJ (da673d)

  8. The 47% comment by Romney was much more broad. 155 million vs 8 million. Plus I think that undercover video came out during the general election.

    It was a little odd seeing Trump claiming to be offended for once. Honestly, I think it threw a wrench in his current image a little. Cruz needed to do something.

    Plus, for New Yorkers to be truly offended, they’d have to actually be against the things that Cruz cited. I don’t think many of them are. A lot of them proudly agree with the meaning of New York values. Sure, you get chatter as liberals find a common cause to complain about Cruz…but I don’t think it’ll damage any actual voter turn out for Cruz.

    Dejectedhead (81f962)

  9. It’s amazing how the same New Yorkers who laughed loud and long about the idea that Donald Trump could be Leader of the Free World and Commander-in-Chief rushed to his defense. And it IS to the Prima Donald’s defense to which they are rushing, because they are largely adopting his intellectually dishonest How-Dare-You-Spit-On-9/11-Survivors take.

    As far as being divisive is concerned, I have yet to hear any of these people express outrage that their hero has been dropping Baby Ruth bars in the pool by suggesting that Cruz might not be as evangelical as he seems because, after all, he IS from Cuba. It is that cynical, passive-aggressive attack — and not so much the birther nonsense — that Cruz was reacting to, putting his own twist on Trump’s stump speech line. In doing so, Trump pretends that his own Christian bonafides are unquestionable despite his bizarre declaration that he’s never asked for forgiveness from the Almighty.

    Lawrence Kudlow, BTW, is dead to me (in the political sense). He lost his freaking mind on his show today.

    L.N. Smithee (e698ae)

  10. this is kinda one of them he who smelt it dealt it things i think

    it was Ted what interjected race/class consciousness into the debate, and in such a snidely ad hominem way to boot

    that’s such a stereotypically ivy league thing to do isn’t it?

    yes. yes it is.

    Not smart Mr. Cruz.

    happyfeet (831175)

  11. Trump has New York values? OK, do NY values include building a wall along the Southern border or having Mexico pay for it, insisting illegal immigrants leave the US and apply for legal entry, pausing Muslim immigration till we come to an agreement on how to handle it, building up our armed forces, taking care of veterans, etc, etc.

    The way I see it, those are American values and if residents of New York share those values then they’re NY values too.

    ropelight (bb228b)

  12. what rural trailer park enthusiast senator ted is missing is that Mr. The Donald had *already surmounted* the stigma of having “new york values”

    i stopped calling him a sleazy manhattantrash p.o.s. like weeks and weeks ago

    he belied that characterization is why

    that’s why he’s leading in the polls!

    question though

    has trailer park Ted surmounted the stigma of harvardtrash values?

    I’m a ponder that while i read my bible i think
    happyfeet (831175) — 1/17/2016 @ 2:04 pm

    Here’s something else you can ponder: Should elections be about fooling people into thinking you aren’t what you actually are?

    Just because you “stopped calling [Trump] sleazy manhattantrash p.o.s. like weeks and weeks ago” doesn’t mean he’s no longer one.

    L.N. Smithee (e698ae)

  13. it was Ted what interjected race/class consciousness into the debate, and in such a snidely ad hominem way to boot

    happyfeet (831175) — 1/17/2016 @ 2:11 pm

    Which race are you talking about?

    L.N. Smithee (e698ae)

  14. first of all I’m not participating in this election so whatever elections are “about” for me they’re mostly about my own personal amusement

    second I think there’s probably a much more widely held consensus opinion on how one would characterize the fervor the pitch and the general tenor of Mr. Trump’s religiosity, such as it is, than there is about the religiosity of cuban canadian evangelical harvardboi ted cruz

    we all know people what are religious in the way Mr. The Donald is religious Mr. Smithee

    not very many of us know harvard evangelicals

    and i confess I’m in that group

    i should get out more

    happyfeet (831175)

  15. Which race are you talking about?

    i shoulda just said social class consciousness I think

    happyfeet (831175)

  16. New Yorkers never could handle the truth about their rotten apple.

    mg (31009b)

  17. the rent is too damn high Mr. mg

    happyfeet (831175)

  18. Right there is the problem. That clip from SNL by happyfeet says it all. Because we know exactly what Cruz meant by New York Values some of which were listed by Dana, (but not near all) but that does not mean anyone else does. For example the LIV voter who get their “NEWS” from Colbert, SNL, Bill Maher and other leftist comedians playing news people on TV and it’s reinforced by the constantly leftist slant of the TV programs themselves. I used to expect the leftist garbage on sitcoms but hell, lately I can’t watch a crime drama without mixed races, pleas for climate change, anti gun innuendo, homosexuals, lezzies, trans and of course the innocent moslem who either just wants to be in America to earn a living or who is a victim of in bread American bigotry and xenophobia. Some or all of these things have been on Elementary, CSI, NCIS, Bones, Criminal Minds, Code Black and The Blacklist to name a few.

    And that’s why Cruz can’t say something like that It’s politically incorrect to point out the leftist fools in NY just as if he were to point out the gay fools in LA. And if one does so even if he lays out a one hour valid explanation it will boil down to ridiculing sound bites by those who control the media. And that ain’t us guys!

    And BTW, the very people, especially SNL people who emanate from New York, know exactly what Cruz meant they just choose to mock rather than address it.

    Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie™ (f4eb27)

  19. BTW, you guys seem to think Cruz and earlier Romney (47% remark) are “writing” people off. I think he’s pointing people out and they don’t like it. So rather than defend it they get snarky.

    Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie™ (f4eb27)

  20. The SNL “mockery” wasn’t even funny and the attempt to call Cruz an anti-Semite falls flat.

    Patterico, would you be offended or off-put is someone said “Los Angeles values”? I’d think you’d be much more likely to know exactly what they mean.

    Dejectedhead (81f962)

  21. New York “values” means that leftie elitists can justify their policies simply by characterizing their opponents as knuckle-draggers living in flyover country. And that’s when they want to be charitable. They’ve been doing this for thirty years, and they believe they know “us” well. This has had a corrosive effect on those who have made careers as “Republican” politicians. Their ranks are now filled automatons incapable of understanding anything that can’t be explained to them by their campaign consultants. They, too, believe their constituents are knuckle-draggers, when they want to be charitable. Hence, RINO.

    Both Cruz and Trump have a gift of crystalizing major problems that seem to be opaque and insurmountable. These issues have come to be viewed that way intentionally. They are the result of our elite’s practice of obfuscating problems through the use of imprecise language, confusing intentions with results, constructing elaborate lies using misdirection and misplaced compassion, and then ridiculing anyone who points out their tactics. None of these geniuses had a problem with Pelosi’s claim that every dollar we gave to those who chose to be unemployed would return two dollars to the economy. This silly woman’s prognosis was at best a mantra based on a false hope, and with a little reflection, it was obviously false. But without opposition, the country marched in Pelosi’s parade for four years. The Left’s control of the language of policy and analysis has become so pervasive that our CiC won’t even name the enemy, nor name a goal. This pitiful child-man is grateful when our enemy returns our sailors after capturing them and humiliating them. Sadly, this episode is an accurate measure of the scope of this man’s accomplishments.

    I see Cruz and Trump as Alexander cutting the Gordian Knot. And speaking frankly about those who have given us “New York”, even with the disagreement between Cruz and Trump, will help to define and understand the problem. Cruz is not making a mistake. He’s identifying the problem.

    BobStewartatHome (a52abe)

  22. i shoulda just said social class consciousness I think
    happyfeet (831175) — 1/17/2016 @ 2:26 pm

    But you didn’t. You said “race.”

    Why do you think you did that?

    L.N. Smithee (e698ae)

  23. i think i said it cause of cause of race and class are both under the umbrella of “social,” which is what i shoulda said i think Mr. Smithee

    happyfeet (831175)

  24. I could be wrong,
    But I don’t think this is nearly as bad as the 47% comment.
    Do you really think hurting the feelings of New Yorkers is going to hurt Cruz?
    Do you think that many people outside of NYC care about NYC getting slammed?

    I think one improve thing is how Cruz deals with it, as already shown in his “apology”,
    With clarification with an offensive posture.

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84)

  25. Thank you, BobStewartatHome. That’s exactly what Cruz did: identify the problem. He should take it on a 57 state tour (my thanks to Obama). We don’t need more New York values, we need less! That’s the city that wants to tell you what size soda you can buy, bans guns, and is a sanctuary city. NY values are what have brought this country to the edge of extinction. Even though Trump is now a Republican he’s been a NY leftist all his life. Kelo, voting democrat and for Obama and his crony capitalism. I understand that in order to get anything done or even one building built in that corrupt place ne has to play the game and grease the palms of the politicians and unions. Perhaps he decided he doesn’t want that any more. Let’s hope so.

    Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie™ (f4eb27)

  26. Do you really think hurting the feelings of New Yorkers is going to hurt Cruz?

    i think it’s gonna highlight that as the nominee Mr. The Donald could harvest a whole lot more votes from that state than Ted could, and who knows he could maybe even make the socialists spend money they wouldn’t otherwise have to here and there

    happyfeet (831175)

  27. Right there is the problem. That clip from SNL by happyfeet says it all. Because we know exactly what Cruz meant by New York Values some of which were listed by Dana, (but not near all) but that does not mean anyone else does. For example the LIV voter who get their “NEWS” from Colbert, SNL, Bill Maher and other leftist comedians playing news people on TV and it’s reinforced by the constantly leftist slant of the TV programs themselves. I used to expect the leftist garbage on sitcoms but hell, lately I can’t watch a crime drama without mixed races, pleas for climate change, anti gun innuendo, homosexuals, lezzies, trans and of course the innocent moslem who either just wants to be in America to earn a living or who is a victim of in bread American bigotry and xenophobia. Some or all of these things have been on Elementary, CSI, NCIS, Bones, Criminal Minds, Code Black and The Blacklist to name a few.

    Although I am behind on the show this season, the only primetime TV show that has treated Republicans and Christians like people rather than caricatures is — SURPRISE! — CBS’ The Good Wife.

    L.N. Smithee (e698ae)

  28. happyfeet, you’re deamin’. Those A-holes in NY would elect a dead horse with a (D) behind its name before they’d vote Cruz, Trump or any other Republican It’s like a one party communist state just like most big cities in the East.

    Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie™ (f4eb27)

  29. it’s a measurable hypothesis Mr. Hoagie

    happyfeet (831175)

  30. Ted should have included the know it all herd of Boston and New England. Truly every bit as arrogant, condescending and liberal as any New Yorker.

    mg (31009b)

  31. L.N.Smithee I have never watched The Good Wife too close to Madam Secretary.

    Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie™ (f4eb27)

  32. The 47% comment made him sound like an elite snob.
    Cruz’ comment made him sound like a non-liberal.

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84)

  33. There really is a show on TV that does that?

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84)

  34. here’s what seems to be the latest statewide polling data in NY for the R primary

    Trump is leading with 34%

    whereas Mr. Senator Cruz registers 3%

    more on point, here are their respective favorable/unfavorable ratings among NY Democrats…

    Trump: 18%/81%

    Cruz: 10%/71%

    That’s inconclusive but suggestive I think.

    happyfeet (831175)

  35. here’s their numbers among independents:

    Trump: 18%/81%

    Cruz: 37%/61%

    That’s dispositive I think.

    happyfeet (831175)

  36. It’s not “a show” MD in Philly, it’s all of them. I spend a lot of time home since I’m retired from my American business and I spend time on the computer doing overseas business. I leave the TV on so I pick up a lot of the garbage they’re showing these days. Almost every damn show is on one crusade or another each episode. None conservative. None with traditional Christian or American vales. Oddly enough the one show I would have expected to be loopy leftist is The Big Bang Theory and it’s generally not. They do an occasional comment or Penny wore a “Hillary” T-shirt once back in 2008 but nothing real in-your-face.

    Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie™ (f4eb27)

  37. sorry those numbers in #36 are wrong here are the right ones

    here’s their numbers among independents:

    Trump: 37%/61%

    Cruz: 29%/53%

    *That’s* dispositive I think. (Hillary is 32%/65%)

    happyfeet (831175)

  38. Unfortunately happyfeet, being New York they are the actual numbers. Out of the 37 Republican voters on 3 are for Cruz. I hope he didn’t “offend” all three of them.

    Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie™ (f4eb27)

  39. hah yes

    happyfeet (831175)

  40. I guarantee that laptop and chair are gone by now. New York “values” and all being what they are.

    Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie™ (f4eb27)

  41. I had recorded FNS and have just finished watching Cruz going back and forth with Wallace. Senator Cruz comported himself very well.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  42. Hoagie… you sound like a big fan of the love letter/gift in kind to Hillary! Clinton show.

    W.T.F., over…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  43. Sweet Jesus, SNL… my wife had that show on TV in the bedroom and I listened to the opening as I was trying to fall asleep. Lorne Michaels should hang his head in shame and embarrassment. The writing is juvenile, bereft of humor and as representative of the current “establishment” as anything on the TV. The best EMTs on the planet could not bring that farce back to life.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  44. Well said, Patrick. A lot of people (me included) have had views about Cruz that are a bit more positive because of your longstanding admiration for him. And that continues to be true. But Cruz should have foreseen some of the reaction to this, and it would not have been so hard for him to have said “New York POLITICAL values” or something like that. Sheesh, did you hear what Larry Kudlow is now saying about Cruz.

    And let me tell you: the way for Cruz to fix this is not to issue a sarcastic, insincere, strident faux “apology”.

    Ted, Ted, Ted. This is the big leagues. Go sit down on camera and say you meant “New York political values”, say and be very sorry that you left out that word, and say you love New York. But don’t say it if you don’t really believe it, because people know the difference.

    Andrew Hyman (b12b60)

  45. Rev. Hoagie,

    I was referring to Smithee’s comment that there was a show that gave a good depiction.

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84)

  46. Cruz has nothing to fix, the only mistake he could make at this point is if he issued a real apology. That’s how they disqualify Conservative candidates. They shame them, get an apology, then never drop the issue. They’ll just bring it up again and again and again. Once you issue a real apology, you can’t take a firmer stance on any of it.

    Dejectedhead (81f962)

  47. Dejectedhead, fine. Cruz ought to go sit down on camera and say he meant “New York political values”, say he shouldn’t have left out that word, and say he loves New York, if in fact he does. No apology needed.

    Andrew Hyman (b12b60)

  48. What does he gain by adding political? He straight up mentioned their social values too.

    New York City isn’t going to vote for him anyways. No need in people to pretend there isn’t a divide in the country.

    Dejectedhead (81f962)

  49. A n.y. state of mind.
    I, me, me, mine.

    mg (31009b)

  50. Think his follow up apology for Cuomo and gang political genius I do! Highlights the bad things and stresses the good things it does!

    Yoda watches only one show on network TV. “Last Man Standing” with republican Tim Allen. Always making fun of Obeyme and Hillary! he is!!!!!

    Yoda (feee21)

  51. Maybe 60% of people in the state of New York have social and moral values that Cruz is not enamored of. You don’t trash 100% because of 60% unless you want to antagonize 100%.

    Andrew Hyman (b12b60)

  52. you can’t rationalize this gaffe away anymore than weirdo mitt could rationalize away the 47% thing or meghan’s coward daddy could rationalize his silly campaign suspension

    it’s an integral part of who ted cruz is now, this contempt for ny values thing

    happyfeet (831175)

  53. Cruz could just tell the truth. He could admit that Trump’s accusations about his ineligibility annoyed the hell out of him to the point he lost perspective, lashed out in anger with an ill considered cheap shot and got gobsmacked for it and rightly so.

    Cruz should stand up like General George Patton did so everyone could see what a big son of a bitch he is, apologize to Trump and to the good American citizens of NYC, say he’s sorry, acknowledge he made a stupid mistake, admit he’s only human, and ask Trump if his offer of the VP spot is still open.

    ropelight (bb228b)

  54. What a horrible played football game between Pitts. and the donkeys.

    mg (31009b)

  55. Man… Denver D on Roflsburger looked like a pride is lions taking a water buffalo down,

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  56. Not is, “of”

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  57. Maybe 60% of people in the state of New York have social and moral values that Cruz is not enamored of.

    He singled out Manhattan, not the state.

    Dejectedhead (81f962)

  58. good one, Col.

    mg (31009b)

  59. Hate to bust yer bubble, Hyman, but most of the country understands what Cruz was saying.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  60. i just can’t get my head around what Cruz was even trying to say

    anyone?

    happyfeet (831175)

  61. n.y. and it’s filth are un American.

    mg (31009b)

  62. it’s quite clear, what cruz meant, that constellation of illogical, insane public policy, that Cuomo, Schumer and DeBlasio, a combination that Cerberus would fear, uphold, pro gun registration, anti-life, anti law enforcement, high tax, a viral complement, which fouls their own nest, then moves west and south,

    narciso (732bc0)

  63. Whatever. If Cruz wants to be the Divider in Chief it’s up to him. Just try to imagine, though, if there’s a disaster in NYC and Cruz goes there with a bullhorn like W did. Total disaster. Patrick is 100% right: “I have said that I think Ted Cruz’s attack on “New York values” was a mistake. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with attacking a leftist ideology, it’s that you attack the ideology and not an area of the country.” Cruz ought to say what Patrick says.

    P.S. Colonel Haiku, if you want to successfully bust my bubble then you’ll have to be much more loving and affectionate than that. 🙂

    Andrew Hyman (b12b60)

  64. Hard for you to do that, happyfeet, when your head is usually in that dank, fetid, dark cranial garage you favor.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  65. yes, the good wife does give the other side, a fair shake, it even pokes a hole at some of the pretense, of the some lives matter movement, unlike morgan freeman’s vehicle madame secretary,

    narciso (732bc0)

  66. Dang it, hyman… I like you but not in that way, not the way I roll

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  67. Good!

    Andrew Hyman (b12b60)

  68. hohum, need better squirrel in the soup,

    narciso (732bc0)

  69. it’s not unlike the philly mayor who denied Islam was involved last week, or the witchhunt in Baltimore, or the coverups in the Windy City,

    narciso (732bc0)

  70. give the other side, a fair shake

    Like how Obama gave Romney a fair shake when his campaign accused him of pushing Grandma off a cliff and killing a factory workers.

    Seems that only one side real plays by those rules.

    Dejectedhead (81f962)

  71. Nice try Hyman,

    Cruz did just fine with his “apology ” explaining what he meant by New York values. He doesn’t need to go any further and just needs to move on and focus on what he needs to do to win the nomination. Apologizing like a gamma will never get him there.

    njrob (e4375d)

  72. I’m tired of being told what GOP candidates can and can’t say, as if random comments like this can actually lose an election. If all it takes to lose is “47%” or “New York values” while Democrats say any outlandish or hateful things they want, Republicans might as well give up now. The rules have changed, thanks in large part to Trump.

    DRJ (15874d)

  73. Ironically, the funny thing about this whole affair is that Ted Cruz supporters and Ted Cruz opponents all agree. New York values ARE offensive.

    Dejectedhead (81f962)

  74. I certainly hope to never live in New York State because I think their political class is lousy and there’s too many damn liberals. But in other ways it’s a wonderful place with wonderful values, and I’ve had a lot of fun times in NYC. Anyway, it’s been nice chatting with you folks. I still think Cruz would be a much better POTUS than Donald or Hillary or Bernie. Later.

    Andrew Hyman (b12b60)

  75. These comments by Cruz might turn New York’s electoral votes into the Democrat column. See, now all those NYC Democrats who were terribly offended that a Republican accused them of voting Democrat, will most certainly vote Democrat in the forthcoming November election. (LOL)

    Trump may even end up voting Democrat. It’s not like he hasn’t before.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  76. Cruz’s attack was designed so that he could look like he was walking it back while still pressing home his actual attack. The original comment was intended to keep it in the news so that people would keep throwing at him and allow him to respond.

    JWB (acfedc)

  77. As I said the other day, the media, bloggers, commenters on blogs…
    all like to try to shape the dialogue while acting like they are only observing it…

    narciso (732bc0) — 1/17/2016 @ 4:53 pm, etc.
    Yes

    hey, Reagan won big elections, even drew what were called “Reagan Democrats” into voting for him,
    and remember how much of a “uniter” he was?
    everybody loved him and respected him…
    What, people said he was an idiot and a cowboy????

    And remember how candidate Obama promised he would be a uniter?
    oh, yeah, I guess too many of us were not cooperative enough

    Here is the big divide,
    and I want it pointed out as much as possible,
    and split wider than the widest part of the Grand Canyon
    and deeper than the Marianas Trench

    those who want the rule of law,
    and those who don’t care.

    MD in Philly (not in Philly at the moment) (deca84)

  78. I was born in New York City (Queens) and raised in downstate New York (Orange County), although for the past thirty years I have proudly called myself a Texan (San Antonio). I think that qualifies me to comment on “New York values”.

    New York City sucks.

    Albany blows.

    The rest of the state I’m not too sure about. After all, they “elected” a carpetbagger to the Senate back in 2000.

    Rusty Bill (ad1f26)

  79. need better squirrel in the soup,

    Painted Jaguar:
    I wish I had the video to show you (and to win money on AFV)
    MD’s daughter was minding her own business,
    sitting on the living room couch and studying…
    when a squirrel ran across the couch, including over her lap…
    chaos and hilarity ensued,
    though hilarity was initially not present in the mind of either the Squirrel or the said daughter,
    just lots of chaos,
    and screaming,
    and getting the upstairs tenant (in lieu of parental figures who were not home) to help
    60 minutes later,
    after closing of doors, using furniture to make barricades, and swinging of brooms,
    the squirrel found the open front door,
    which was its invitation to leave
    and the adrenaline level in the house returned to normal…

    At least there were no armadillos involved…

    Painted Jaguar (a sockpuppet) (deca84)

  80. Whether the way Cruz phrased his attack was a mistake remains to be seen. If it moves votes from Trump’s column to his then it wasn’t a mistake. Various things Trump has said were judged to be a mistake at the time, but to people’s surprise had no effect or even made him more popular.

    Gerald A (949d7d)

  81. Cruz knows he’s not going to win the New York primary. With this remark, he was obviously playing to the Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina electorates.

    When South Dakota’s John Thune was running to unseat then-Senator Tom Daschle in 2004, he made a big issue out of Daschle representing the voters—the voters of Ted Kennedy’s Commonwealth of Massachusetts!

    It’s kind of funny, because over the years, I imagine a good percentage of Trump’s NYC acolytes have laughed at jokes directed at Nancy Pelosi’s Marin County/San Francisco values. But now that the periscope is focused on NYC, the laughter of Gotham City becomes a little muffled. But only the laughter…not the attacks. Team Trump will never recede from making personal attacks. After all, Trump is the guy, who, when asked by Megyn Kelly to name the official state bird of Iowa, began making remarks about her menstrual cycle.

    It’s almost as if they can’t delineate between wanting to destroy ISIS vs wanting to destroy Megyn Kelly. Or Ted Cruz.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  82. Andrew Hyman,

    Cruz should not apologize. That’s what they want. I think he has handled it as well as he could given the initial (IMO) mistake.

    But you know what? Maybe it was not a mistake. Maybe he’s playing Trump’s game of saying controversial stuff to get on the tube.

    I just have this idea that most Americans don’t like it when people write off a part of the country. That’s why Trump keeps bringing it up, ironically in the way that a PC fan one brings up a violation of PC again and again. He thinks it hurts Cruz. And I think it does in the long run. But I am not infallible in my political instincts.

    Patterico (294515)

  83. Wonderful to see a comment from DRJ!

    Patterico (294515)

  84. how’s it going jaguar?

    narciso (732bc0)

  85. “i should get out more”
    says “happyfeet” without a hint of irony. Considering how much time you spend here desperate for attention and trying to be provocative with your endless repetition of your painfully unwitty “catch-phrases,” I’d say that’s the understatement of the century.

    Jack of All Trades Klompus (4758e4)

  86. It has been pointed out that in one way national polls mean little at this point, especially when split over multiple candidates
    there will be one state contest, then another, then another, then some together
    and things will either get sorted out
    or not

    here’s the thing,
    if you stand for something,
    all you need to do is work on clearly explaining what you stand for,
    and how it is better than what others say
    and let the pundits and pollsters and consultants do what they want,
    and sleep soundly at night.

    MD in Philly (at the moment not in Philly) (deca84)

  87. The turd cruz hid the goldman sacks loan so he could appear to the goobers as a hick! Since he is not naturally born but hatched in canada who cares.

    xeke (8bd86a)

  88. Painted Jaguar:
    Let me just say that it is always hot in the deep dark jungle by the turbid waters of the Amazon,
    be there ninos or ninas,
    other than that it is complicated
    God’s grace is always sufficient, but some days it is easier to see than others.

    Painted Jaguar (a sockpuppet) (deca84)

  89. The stillness of the jungle is as still as still can be
    As still as a painted jaguar lounging in the lower limbs a painted tree.

    ropelight (bb228b)

  90. of a painted tree.

    ropelight (bb228b)

  91. There is a wonderful flashback scene in Annie Hall when the Alvy Singer character (played by Woody Allen) interacts with his former girlfriend, Allison.

    Alvy Singer: You, you, you’re like New York, Jewish, left-wing, liberal, intellectual, Central Park West, Brandeis University, the socialist summer camps and the, the father with the Ben Shahn drawings, right, and the really, y’know, strike-oriented kind of, red diaper, stop me before I make a complete imbecile of myself.

    Allison: No, that was wonderful. I love being reduced to a cultural stereotype.

    Alvy Singer: Right, I’m a bigot, I know, but for the left.

    It is one of many magnificent scenes in Annie Hall and it works because we understand that people process the world in terms of stereotypes – we all do it. The “New York values” stereotype works because it is one that is familiar to all of us and, at some level, we believe it. That’s why it is the perfect line of attack: because Trump, like it or not (and Trump clearly doesn’t like being reduced to a cultural stereotype), almost perfectly fits the stereotype. Now that the electorate has been reminded of something that they surely already understood – that Trump is a stereotypical New Yorker – every time Trump opens his yap or simply starts mugging – we will all think to ourselves: “Oh yeah, he sure is one of those New Yorkers.” As election days draw near, it is hard to imagine that Cruz’ very effective framing of Trump will do anything but cut into his support across America’s heartland. Cruz’ invoking of this crass stereotype is, to reference another movie I particularly enjoy, like a membership in the Jelly of the Month Club: the gift that keeps on giving.

    The fact that Trump and the media/political elite – including Mr. Williamson – are so irked by this line of attack speaks to its effectiveness. In directing this attack at Trump, it has done something that may reverse the dynamic of the race entirely: it has gotten under the big guy’s skin, making him seem smaller with every reflexive counter-attack. Cruz’ clever gambit seems to be working in exactly the same way Trump’s needling of Jeb! got under the Floridian’s skin and, ultimately, reduced him in the eyes of the electorate. At the very least, there is a certain justice to getting the Great and Powerful Trump to appear to be thin skinned and whiny.

    And let’s not forget, the cultural stereotyping is a part of what we all love about Alvy Singer.

    ThOR (a52560)

  92. How many million crimaliens call n.y. home?

    mg (31009b)

  93. with due respect, williamson is lying, about what cruz meant, as he has mostly given up holding his breath about trump, like his confreres, rick wilson, the zapp branigan of campaign consultants, and liz mair,

    narciso (732bc0)

  94. watching dem debate
    there’s a crusty cooze with dead eyes
    and an old white guy

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  95. Painted Jaguar:
    Courting the boob vote,

    Hmm, slandering me while complaining about Cruz slandering NY’s

    Painted Jaguar (a sockpuppet) (deca84)

  96. #93 Thor, that’s a really good insight about cultural motifs.
    I also like the “Annie Hall” reference. It’s probably Woody Allen’s best film.

    I think a lot of NYC’ers are adept at identifying the cultural motifs of other regions of the country, but the very second that anyone turns the mirror on NYC, they pull the fire alarm. If Iowa caucus voters knew the contempt that NYC’ers have for them, Trump wouldn’t even win 10%.

    Ironically (or not), a lot of Trump’s supporters engage in the same knee-jerk (emphasis on ‘jerk’) reactions that Trump does. So many of them begin lobbing insults, or just plain yelling, rather than attempting a civil two-way dialogue.
    Ultimately, the lefties want to cut off your microphone, while the Trumpies just want to scream over you.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  97. Rubio thinks we’re ALL Americans.

    “I think we’re all Americans,” Rubio said.

    happyfeet (831175)

  98. rick wilson, the zapp branigan of campaign consultants,

    That’s a keeper.

    Patterico (294515)

  99. From the outset, it seems clear that Cruz’ objective has been to hijack Trump supporters. The “New York values” critique should be seen in that context. Cruz is making an emotions-based, us-against-them pitch to a very large group of legitimately angry voters (I yell sometimes, myself). His point – and it is substantive one – is that Trump isn’t the real deal. Maybe I’m overdoing it with the cultural references, but I can’t help but think of the Pace Picante Sauce commercials of a generation ago. Most of us remember just what an effective campaign that was. I see no reason to believe that Cruz’ pitch will not succeed with the intended target.

    ThOR (a52560)

  100. Exactly, what Thor said

    People who follow things know Cruz was referring to the Cuomo Diblasio (?sp) Manhattan elite types
    Those who don’t and are likely support him just think “liberal”
    I think only those who would never vote for Cruz anyway would take offense,
    And some of those are eRepub type journalists who want to make it into something bigger than it is

    With giving up terrorists in trade for innocents to a rogue state and everything else,
    This is piddly.

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84)

  101. Well, ThOR, that might have been Cruz’s original plan, but with supporters like the ones who jump at every opportunity to attack Trump and smear the very voters they’re attempting to influence, the odds for success diminish rather quickly. Unless of course wrongheaded Cruz Supporters have adopted the same high-handed tactics the GOPe uses regularly against Conservatives.

    If Cruz get the nod, and Trump supporters stay home, who wins? Not Uncle Sam.

    ropelight (bb228b)

  102. If Cruz can get Republican voters to think “Oh yeah, Trump has the same ‘New York values’ as Cuomo and de Blasio,” or something even close to that, this race is over.

    ThOR (a52560)

  103. please after all the birther carp, and the information about loan that were disclosed 3 1/2 years ago, instead of focusing on the real enemy.

    narciso (732bc0)

  104. From what little I know,
    Cruz supporters are about the last ones that are attacking Trump,
    Especially given SOTU Republican responses that attack Trump more than Obama and the Dems
    And I think that most Trump supporters don’t like “NY values” anyway, they like the Trump that departs from those values
    NY values aren’t for building a fence and limiting immigration.
    People with “NY values” aren’t voting for Trump,
    They are voting for a dem

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84)

  105. I too am delighted to see anything that DRJ posts.

    It continues to amaze me how the MSM focuses on things that they consider “dubious” about any R-candidate, and pretty much bury anything from Team D. And—true to form—Team R helps them out.

    That’s why I liked Cruz’s apology.

    I always enjoy the Reagan fans who forget the Eleventh Commandment he supported. I think it is fine to carry on about the primary candidates (and can be useful), but Team R continues to bad mouth their own people after the primary. And that, of course pleases the DNC no end.

    Simon Jester (fd3624)

  106. I’m voting for Trump and my experience with the so-called Cruz Supporter recently commenting here has so soured me on Cruz (who was my second choice) that I may well stay home if Cruz gets the nod. I know what it sounds like, but that’s how I feel. Actions have consequences (mine included).

    ropelight (bb228b)

  107. If someone makes a remark about “California values”,
    I’m not thinking about P and Mike K
    I’m thinking gov moonbeam, Hollywood elites, SF gay pride parade
    If one says “Madison values” I’m not thinking dairy farmers, or even Scott Walker,
    I’m thinking anti-war protesters, bombings, and hippies and hippy wannabes from the 60’s,
    And giving the key to the city to Castro

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84)

  108. why Simon, their goal is maintain power, this is also why parkinson came up with the 11th commandment, because the california establishment shoots for the knees, then shoots the wounded,
    you can fill in delaware, or a host of other states, in the same blank.

    narciso (732bc0)

  109. Really,
    You won’t vote for Cruz because of what somebody writes who I don’t even read?

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84)

  110. here’s an old chestnut,

    http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2016/01/17/the-one-trait-that-predicts-whether-youre-a-trump-supporter/

    of course, you have to be vizzini, about what authoritarian means,

    narciso (732bc0)

  111. Agree, Cruz’ apology is what we need

    I don’t follow most of the tit for tat stuff
    I think we’ve spent way too much time on this
    I guess because others pushed it

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84)

  112. I’m sorry MD, I failed to take your interests into consideration. I’ll give it a second thought.

    ropelight (bb228b)

  113. #103 ropelight, I think you make a valid point.
    That is, as you hint at, it’s not a guarantee that Trump supporters will actually vote for Cruz over Hillary in the general election…and that is precisely why so many of us have questions about Trump and his hardline supporters.

    For instance, when Reagan lost to Ford in the 1976, Ronnie urged his supporters to coalesce behind Ford in order to defeat Carter. That’s because for Reagan, it was always about “Uncle Sam,” rather than, well,…”Uncle Donald.”
    With Reagan, he was the messenger, no doubt, but it was his message and vision that trumped (pun intended!) everything else.

    Reagan advocated for the “11th Commandment,” which was to generally abstain from trashing fellow Republicans. Trump, on the other hand, seems to violate all ten commandments by the middle of the week. Although, I don’t actually have evidence that he’s dishonored his parents. (LOL) At least not this week.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  114. Not sure what that means, narciso.
    I don’t agree that Repubs are more authoritarian than Dems

    Trump followers are easy to understand,
    They are fed up with DC, both parties,
    And trump has the name and reputation recognition to rally behind

    That simple.
    If voters get more info about things they don’t like about trump
    Cruz is the next obvious because of his alienation from eRepubs too
    Carson was the obvious alternative to trump as an accomplished outsider, but his weaknesses have become apparent

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84)

  115. since the 60s, with hofstadler that is the tag they put on everyone from Goldwater to Reagan, their grasp of every institution, is just ‘the way it is’

    narciso (732bc0)

  116. Hmm, ropelight,
    I’m thinking that was sarcasm
    My point was not the importance of my interests,
    But why would you give that much influence to CS?

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84)

  117. I was dissapointed at how Dr. Carson was carved up, prompted by the usual suspects, yet carried through by those who should have known better,

    narciso (732bc0)

  118. CS, you miss the point as usual. Nasty jerks like you so offend Trump’s supporters they just might stay home rather than vote for Cruz. It wouldn’t surprise me if Hillary didn’t have an organized cadre of jerks like you out to do her dirty work. If you aren’t already on her payroll, you’re working for free when the job you’re doing pays rather well. After all, your effectiveness has already been established.

    ropelight (bb228b)

  119. It’s not as if NYC liberals don’t wear Cruz’s claims like a badge of honor. They know it’s true, we know it’s true. So while I’m glad to see Cruz willing to call it like he sees it (which is, after all, what Trump brags about nearly on a daily basis, right?), I do wish he had thought about the unintended consequences a bit more. IOW, handing both Trump the Hypocrite and the Democrats red meat. They will use this for a very long time:

    Mayor de Blasio slammed Sen. Ted Cruz on Sunday, calling on New Yorkers to forego donations to the Canadian-born GOP presidential contender with a contempt for “New York values.”

    “There’s no reason any New Yorker should be helping him with money so he can insult us,” de Blasio said on John Catsimatidis’ morning radio show.

    Hizzoner described Cruz’s recent critique of Donald Trump’s “New York values” as “hypocritical” and “disgusting” given all the fundraising the Republican does in the Empire State.

    “He is very happy to come here and raise money,” de Blasio said. “He’ll take New York’s money. He’ll take big loans from Goldman Sachs and then he turns around and attacks the people of New York.”

    De Blasio even gave a rare nod to Trump, a political foil he’s tangled several times since the billionaire joined the GOP primary race.

    “I don’t likely say I agree with Donald, but Donald Trump in this case, I thought he characterized it exactly right, that the same city that withstood the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and rebuilt and showed such strength and such grace, we deserve respect from somebody who says he wants to be president of the United States.


    http://nypost.com/2016/01/17/de-blasio-tells-new-yorkers-not-to-donate-to-hypocritical-cruz/

    Dana (86e864)

  120. MD, hold your mud, there’s a method to my madness.

    ropelight (bb228b)

  121. My main problems with Carson is that I thought he wasn’t getting good advice, eg climate,
    But more so that he was naive about foreign policy and the meanness in the world

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84)

  122. Hmm,
    Sorry,
    Didn’t know I was slinging mud

    What do I or Cruz care about mayor d not liking us?
    I’m guessing that anyone in NYC who is going to back Cruz doesn’t much care what mayor d thinks.
    G’night

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84)

  123. I didn’t notice anyone carving up Carson. Almost everything said about him was positive to the point of fawning. He’s just not ready for prime time. Nothing against him personally, but most of the others in the race are much better qualified. He should make himself available for a cabinet post, say Surgeon General.

    ropelight (bb228b)

  124. MD, not slinging mud, holding your mud means keeping your peace till the endgame is revealed.

    ropelight (bb228b)

  125. Oh, ok, thanks
    G’night

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84)

  126. Uh, since everyone’s talking so much about the reaction to “New York values,” add this one to the pile: Ted Cruz beating Trump in a prominent NYC straw poll after this whole story got rolling.

    I realize this might come as a shock to some people, but fun fact: most people don’t like New York. It’s not just because of the rampant liberal policies; the people are typically arrogant jerks who think they’re better than everyone else. Look at Trump for proof of that. The guy gets hammered on his liberal policies and tries to deflect by invoking the response to 9/11 as proof of New York values. Put aside for a moment the sheer depravity of that and focus on how Trump is basically saying that only New Yorkers could’ve risen to the occasion and that non-New Yorkers couldn’t have. The response to 9/11 was an example of American values; Trump’s egotism and the way New York-based media personalities lapped it up are examples of New York values.

    Look, you can play pretend and insist that this comment will somehow hurt Cruz and that Trump will somehow get people to vote for him in the general (despite the fact that he has massive negatives, no policy specifics, and has repeatedly flip-flopped on issues). The fact is, Cruz was right to highlight unpopular liberal policies as being “New York values.” New Yorkers are liberal and think they know better than everyone else. Trump, being a lifelong liberal who backed numerous Democratic candidates and policies, epitomizes that. Hell, if Trump were capable of talking actual policy and not just loudmouthed rhetoric to gin up low-info voters, then he wouldn’t have to deflect constantly or invoke 9/11.

    I’m not saying you should vote for Cruz, but a vote for Trump is akin to throwing your vote away. We’ve had about eight years with one thin-skinned liberal, so no reason to elect Obama 2.0.

    top116 (d094f8)

  127. willliamson, has long had a bee in his bonnet, about cruz, it’s dialed to eleventy with trump, he complains about democratic totalitarianism, but to beat you need a more powerful force, not blanc manges like nccain, who quit in the 3rd act, or romney, who decides to regard the contest as a squash match,

    narciso (732bc0)

  128. top116, if Cruz gets the nod then is deemed ineligible or falls victim to endless official entanglements how is that not throwing your vote away?

    ropelight (bb228b)

  129. “I do wish he had thought about the unintended consequences a bit more.” – Dana

    Cruz has been playing a long-game throughout the campaign. My guess is that he has been planning to attack Trump for some time and this is the best strategy he could come up with. I have no reason to think Cruz, of all people, has not fully anticipated the potential fallout.

    Many have tried to bring down Trump and all have failed. Can you suggest an attack that would be more effective in bringing Trump voters into the Cruz fold, while preserving support among his base constituencies? Although the “New York values” critique may seem inelegant, among which constituencies do you think he will lose votes in States that have primaries he has any hope of winning? I can’t think of one.

    The “New York values” attack constitutes an informed guess by a man with a proven track record of making good informed guesses. He is an extraordinarily deep and empathic thinker. I wouldn’t jump to any premature conclusions about how this is going to play out.

    ThOR (a52560)

  130. a better take,

    https://pjmedia.com/rogerkimball/2016/01/17/thucydides-on-donald-trump-new-york-values/?singlepage=true

    thucydides was like the wesley clark of the athenians,

    narciso (732bc0)

  131. If Cruz supporters truly want to encourage Trump’s supporters into changing horses the first step is to stop denigrating them. The second step is to teat them with respect, and the third step is give them a real reason to do it, not another load of smarmy insulting invective.

    Attacks on Trump won’t get the job done. Guaranteed.

    ropelight (bb228b)

  132. ropelight,

    Cruz isn’t attacking Trump supporters; he’s attacking a side of Trump that the 1999 Meet the Press interview clearly illustrates. The 69-year-old Trump is trying to convince voters that he is not the man he was just fifteen years ago and, presumably, had been for the entirety of his previous adult life. It’s a tough sell. It is one thing to flip-flop on just one issue and quite another to flip-flop on an entire world view – especially for a man of Trump’s considerable years. I’m not saying it’s impossible; I’m just saying I’d like more than his word on it.

    And let’s not forget just who Trump is: he’s a developer. Having worked in development for many years, I am well aware of the length developers will go to close a really big deal. That’s the art of the deal.

    ThOR (a52560)

  133. One last thought then off to bed, I’m taking a snowbird friend to Punta Gorda tomorrow morning for a plane trip to Buffalo, NY. – – On second thought I’m going to pore myself about 3 fingers of bonded bourbon over ice and watch a little Hank Williams Jr on TV first.

    If Ted Cruz cared more about the country than he cares about his own ambitions he’ll take Trump’s advice and ask the courts for a declaratory judgment on his eligibility. If he’s unwilling to settle the issue prior to the primary elections he doesn’t deserve anybody’s vote.

    ropelight (bb228b)

  134. I can hardly wait for the Cruz campaign’s “New York values”-themed TV adverts that slice and dice the Meet the Press interview.

    ThOR (a52560)

  135. ThOR, perhaps you missed the last few days of back and forth between me and Curz Supporter.

    Other than his unfortunate NY values quip, Cruz himself has no history of attacking Trump’s supporters, but jerks like CS are doing the kind of dirty work that poisons the well. And, other Cruz supporters remain silent or stand up and cheer.

    It like when Islamic terrorists commit mass murder and no moderate Muslims step forward and condemn the bloodthirsty bastards and their insane ideology. People tend to remember things like that.

    ropelight (bb228b)

  136. ropelight,

    Politics brings out the worst in people. Although I enjoy reading about politics on the web and commenting about it here, sometimes it can be hard to endure.

    Although I’m a Cruz supporter, I have stated before and I’m happy to state again that I feel grateful to Trump for standing up and being counted on issues that mean a lot to me. Happily, where Trump has led, other candidates have followed. In addition, if it weren’t for Trump, the Cruz candidacy would have been hit with the full brunt of the attack now being split between the two men. Recently, I read that Trump has effectively served and served well as Cruz’ stalking horse. I think that’s right, though it was clearly not Trump’s intention. I thank Trump for that, too.

    In a comment above CS criticized Trump fans for being shouters. I can’t think of a more rational response to the sorry state of the Republican Party and our nation than shouting. I’ve taken to shouting. How do you not shout?

    ThOR (a52560)

  137. Yoda, one question has, Diblasio in Italiano, same as Diablo in Spanish is? If so, then name appropriate is!

    Yoda (feee21)

  138. “holding your mud means keeping your peace till the endgame is revealed.”

    Heh… not where I come from…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  139. Where do you come from?

    ropelight (bb228b)

  140. San Francisco area, though I grew up near Disneyland. The bile directed at Republicans around here is beyond belief. I rarely talk politics at work or with friends and never with strangers.

    ThOR (a52560)

  141. I sympathize ThOR, I worked for UC in the early ’80s and there were few conservatives in Berkeley in those days.

    ropelight (bb228b)

  142. Trump is a Hillary plant.
    I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.
    His job is to get Hillary elected.
    By weakening all the Republican candidates in the primaries.
    And causing discord, discontent and disunity in the base.
    This Birther dirt against Cruz is his most blatant.
    At the moment.
    Watch him get worse.
    He is a disgusting duckface badgerhead.

    I’ve talked to Hillary supporters.
    They talk about Cruz’s birth with a shy half-look.
    They know there’s no substance but they like the dirt.
    As for Cruz’s NY remark, it’s important only to people who already don’t like him.
    Like Trump who is Hillary’s butt-boy like I’ve said.

    nk (dbc370)

  143. Too much Ouzo salves the the palate and addles the brain.

    ropelight (bb228b)

  144. I’m voting for Trump and my experience with the so-called Cruz Supporter recently commenting here has so soured me on Cruz (who was my second choice) that I may well stay home if Cruz gets the nod. I know what it sounds like, but that’s how I feel. Actions have consequences (mine included).
    ropelight (bb228b) — 1/17/2016 @ 8:09 pm


    “What it sounds like” if your vote hangs on your “experience” with anonymous strangers making internet comments is that you’re as shallow as a kiddie pool.

    L.N. Smithee (e698ae)

  145. ropelight, put down the vodka bottle and walk away.
    You wrote:
    I’m voting for Trump and my experience with the so-called Cruz Supporter recently commenting here has so soured me on Cruz (who was my second choice) that I may well stay home if Cruz gets the nod. I know what it sounds like, but that’s how I feel. Actions have consequences (mine included).
    ropelight (bb228b) — 1/17/2016 @ 8:09 pm

    That is what Trump wants.
    Because that’s what Hillary wants.
    You proved me right.

    As for me.
    If it’s Trump vs. Hillary, I will vote for Hilary before I vote for Trump.
    In reality, I will vote for neither.
    Unless Hell freeze over.
    Or the Cubs win the World Series, which is the same thing.
    But not because of your disingenuous (that means saying things you don’t really believe) here.
    You are not that important.
    Not you, and not any other Trumpeteer.
    Not to me, anyway.
    Because I saw that Trump is a lying, duckface, badgerhead, Manhattan scumbag appealing to the worst instincts of mouth-breathers from the word “Go”.

    nk (dbc370)

  146. disingenuous *comments*

    nk (dbc370)

  147. P.S.
    FWIW, I have my own doubts that Cruz Supporter is really a Cruz supporter. He/she has a strong Love2008/Emperor/other aliases to him/her. Popping up on every election cycle to make trouble.

    nk (dbc370)

  148. San Francisco area, though I grew up near Disneyland. The bile directed at Republicans around here is beyond belief. I rarely talk politics at work or with friends and never with strangers.

    ThOR (a52560) — 1/17/2016 @ 11:32 pm

    Ditto, brother. Lifelong San Francisco resident.

    For those who don’t live and breathe Bay Area politics, you truly don’t get it. No Republican has won a Mayor’s race since 1959 (George Christopher) and there hasn’t been a viable Republican candidate running since 1975 (John Barbagelata).

    Nancy Pelosi hasn’t campaigned in San Francisco since her first victory in 1987; people are just used to poking the box for her without thinking about it.

    When liberal public defender Jeff Adachi ran for Mayor and proposed that if elected, he would consider public employee pension reforms, he was treated to advertisements saying there was no difference between him and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. One ad even showed his face alongside those of George W. Bush and Sarah Palin, suggesting that the Democrat was trying to turn San Francisco into (Horrors!) a “Tea Party Town.”

    Congressman Fortney “Pete” Stark (D-Fremont), a thoroughly disliked person with a short fuse and foul mouth (much more here) was returned to Washington every two years for almost four decades for only one apparent reason: The alternative was sending a Republican to replace him. Once California became a state in which the two top vote-getters in the primary would face off in the general election, Stark was finally bounced by another Dem, the barely-known local city councilman Eric Smalwell.

    L.N. Smithee (e698ae)

  149. cruz supporter is the royal highness of a low life.

    mg (31009b)

  150. The Chthulhu Marching Song of the Maleficarian Army adapted only slightly:

    Big squidhead lies a-sleeping somewhere in NYC,
    And one day, when the stars are right, he’ll wake up presently,
    And then may wipe us all out, which sounds worrying to me,
    While the Tcho-Tcho sing this song…

    Aie! Ftagn! Ftagn! CthulhuTrump!
    Cosmic horror coming to you,
    The Old Ones are back now with a view to
    Sucking out your brains.

    Big Squidhead lies a-sleeping, although, in a way, he’s dead.
    There are dreams that change reality a-running round his head.
    He lies in dread R’lyeh, which is on the ocean bed.
    But pops up and down for fun.

    (Spoken) And the Tcho-Tcho sing

    Aie! Ftagn! Ftagn! Yog-SothothHillary!
    The streets will be chockablock with shoggoth,
    How sweetly their cries ‘Tekeli-li!’ doth
    Improve the slimy hour.

    Big Squidhead lies a-scheming somewhere in NYC,
    He is counting out the aeons that make up eternity,
    And when he’s done, it’s curtains for the mast majority,
    While the Tcho-Tcho get on down.

    Aie! Ftagn! Ftagn! Shub-NiggurathBernie!
    We’re on the winning side to see the aftermath,
    Put on your marching boots because we’re on the path,
    To the end times, here we come!
    To the end times, here we come!
    To the end times! Here! We! Coooooooooome!

    nk (dbc370)

  151. Toss team republican a life preserver – full of lead.

    mg (31009b)

  152. darling nikki is servile trash

    happyfeet (831175)

  153. Well there was that police chief, but I chalk that up to a bender.

    narciso (732bc0)

  154. That was inspired nk.

    Pokachu you are the Perez Hilton of this coffee clatch.

    narciso (732bc0)

  155. narciso (732bc0) — 1/17/2016 @ 9:14 pm
    Always follow links by narciso

    Because I saw that Trump is a .. badgerhead,
    nk (dbc370) — 1/18/2016 @ 12:19 am
    That wasn’t necessary

    Painted Jaguar (a sockpuppet) (deca84)

  156. As you can see, Painted Jaguar was offended by inappropriate references to the animal kingdom.

    MD in Philly (at the moment not in Philly) (deca84)

  157. Thanks md, I was disappointed that Giuliani went in the bandwagon with this, as if 2008 taught him nothing.

    narciso (732bc0)

  158. you’re very kind

    happyfeet (831175)

  159. No, he’s more of a muskrat.

    narciso (732bc0)

  160. Pokachu you are the Perez Hilton of this coffee clatch.
    narciso (732bc0) — 1/18/2016 @ 6:11 am

    Now that is funny.

    felipe (56556d)

  161. Pokachu = poke at you.

    felipe (56556d)

  162. Autocorrect, but some how correct regardless. The reaction to miss colombia, is emblematic.

    narciso (732bc0)

  163. Now Anne hornaday, keeps the Wurlitzer on all the time.

    narciso (732bc0)

  164. Did you say Wurlitzer?

    felipe (56556d)

  165. Yes I did, they can’t get reality interfere with the narrative. La had a brief interlude with riordan as well, but like the Kipling poem

    narciso (732bc0)

  166. Trump is a Hillary plant.
    I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.
    His job is to get Hillary elected.
    By weakening all the Republican candidates in the primaries.
    And causing discord, discontent and disunity in the base.
    This Birther dirt against Cruz is his most blatant.
    At the moment.
    Watch him get worse.
    He is a disgusting duckface badgerhead.

    I’ve talked to Hillary supporters.
    They talk about Cruz’s birth with a shy half-look.
    They know there’s no substance but they like the dirt.
    As for Cruz’s NY remark, it’s important only to people who already don’t like him.
    Like Trump who is Hillary’s butt-boy like I’ve said.

    nk (dbc370) — 1/17/2016 @ 11:50 pm

    I initially thought Trump was a Clinton operative but at this point the facts just don’t fit that theory – for example his attack on Hillary over her covering up for Bill’s womanizing over the years, which was apparently not some off the cuff remark but something he’s been planning.

    Looking at his campaign against his Republican opponents, one could easily conclude Trump’s a Clinton operative. It’s kind of like the question of whether Obama’s a Muslim. He probably isn’t one, but it’s hard to see what he’d do differently if he was.

    Gerald A (949d7d)

  167. Mr. Trump is much more likely than hillary or trailer park ted to keep poor hapless failmerica out of silly wars and other blunders i think

    that’s very attractive, no?

    happyfeet (831175)

  168. With Mainstream Media running stories headlined such-and-such family member of someone killed on 9/11 “offers to teach Ted Cruz a lesson” about New York values, I thought the better story, as it relates to 9/11, should be not on what the Texas senator said the other night but on what a New York senator said a decade ago: how Hillary Clinton lied about the pre-9/11 brief titled “Bin Ladin Preparing to Hijack US Aircraft and Other Attacksshe claimed Bill Clinton never was shown. After all, 9/11 might have never happened had Bill done his job!

    Hillary Clinton’s lie about the Presidential Daily Brief that Bill Clinton DID receive proves she doesn’t want Americans to know the truth. That’s the “lesson” that must be taught: How Hillary’s lie disrespects every family member who lost loved ones that day!

    Noel Sheppard, Rest In Peace…

    JoeKidd (4d9c69)

  169. Mr. Trump is much more likely than hillary or trailer park ted to keep poor hapless failmerica out of silly wars and other blunders i think

    that’s very attractive, no?
    happyfeet (831175) — 1/18/2016 @ 7:27 am

    Really. What makes you so certain? He takes both sides of many issues without even seeming to realize it.

    L.N. Smithee (e698ae)

  170. The crux of the problem with not just Cruz but Williamson too is they’re probably influenced by — subtly or otherwise — the well-known concept that if a person doesn’t want a fight to break out at an otherwise friendly family get-together, religion and politics shouldn’t be discussed. Or people affected by a variation of the notion — fashionable among the elite on the Boston-NYC-DC cocktail circuit (both Democrats and Republicans alike) — that it’s bad manners or overly intrusive to discuss the ideology of, for example, no less than someone as crucial as a nominee to the Supreme Court.

    Simply put, even a Ted Cruz (and most certainly a Donald Trump) will flinch just a bit when wanting (or meaning) to say liberals or liberalism and instead use a phrase like “New York values.”

    Mark (f713e4)

  171. lol

    this is just who you failmericans are anymore

    happyfeet (831175)

  172. What makes you so certain?

    he’s the only one of the three what understands how to do a cost benefit analysis before committing to a course of action

    happyfeet (831175)

  173. you find that funny perez, like when they nabbed colonel higgins, in 1988?

    narciso (732bc0)

  174. higgins was captured at a brothel?

    happyfeet (831175)

  175. I would be surprised if many voters didn’t know from the start that Cruz was talking
    about what he explicated in his “apology”.
    It may be a subliminal shot at Bernie, with the permanently contorted face and the hectoring
    finger in my face whose accent is just like those loudmouth left/comsymps we’ve all known
    since college. They don’t all come from the Bronx, but it seems they need a dialect lesson
    before they’re admitted to the True Believers.

    Richard Aubrey (472a6f)

  176. Yes, LN, little Lord Fortney was a real POS.

    Colonel Haiku (168f33)

  177. he was that era’s version of alan grayson, an insufferable rich punk with the wearing the right jersey,

    narciso (732bc0)

  178. Failure is a tasty Thai pancake-eating entity what moves from state to state just ahead of the weather or the authorities.

    Colonel Haiku (168f33)

  179. is not

    happyfeet (831175)

  180. Niki Haley is a dumb azz.
    http://video.foxnews.com/v/4709396603001/judge-jeanine-the-republican-party-is-in-real-trouble/?intcmp=hpvid1#sp=show-clips
    mg (31009b) — 1/18/2016 @ 3:41 am

    1. It was my opinion that Nikki Haley acted with a eye toward 2016 and a possible VP slot when she announced that she would now insist the Confederate Flag be removed from state grounds in South Carolina. As a black man with a father from the Jim Crow south, I have always opposed the banishment of that flag because I don’t like attempts to erase history for political expediency — that’s a Soviet thing to do. So I dreaded Haley’s speech after the bland, predictable, and thankfully last Obama SOTU.

    Having not bothered to watch, I saw the lefties go after Haley with ad hominems about her mouth and teeth. I read that the venomous Ann Coulter said she should be deported, as if she wasn’t an American. Then I saw Frank Luntz tweet that Haley’s SOTU response was the highest rated he ever tested, particularly among Democrats. What a shock when I read the transcript. The only line I would have changed was the one referring to the C-Flag removal. Everything else was spot-on, including the thinly-veiled slap at Trump.

    I’ve listened to Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin (briefly) address Haley’s speech and got pissed and flipped them off (that is to say, I changed the channel). They weren’t really addressing the content of what Haley said, nor the fact that Democrats — of whom a healthy percentage adore Trump, we’re all supposed to acknowledge — found it appealing. No, they were both stuck on Haley decrying the “angriest voices,” which angered the voices to whom Trump’s righteous anger (in lieu of clarity) is cathartic. They both imagined scenarios of the establishment writing her script for her with the goal of making sure that people like Trump (and Cruz, don’t forget about him) don’t crash the gates of the country club, blah, blah, bulllaaaahhhhh. In addition, they both asserted that Haley either outright said or implied policies that were the opposite of what she said. It’s as if they decided they knew what she said when she rejected “the angriest voices” and they didn’t need to listen or read any further.

    Honest question: Go to the link to Haley’s transcript above. Tell me which lines you object to. Seriously.

    2. Judge Jeanine Pirro once dated Trump. She should recuse herself.

    L.N. Smithee (e698ae)

  181. well Rush was very diplomatic on that score, Levin less so, she didn’t acknowledge the sailors, being held hostage, or the cities burning this last year, the whole pollyanna tone of the address, after the betrayal with the continuing resolution, how there isn’t apparently any allowable way of vetting the refugees, after last spring’s climbdown I wasn’t expecting anything less,

    narciso (732bc0)

  182. And rather than just thanking our brave men and women in uniform, we would actually strengthen our military, so both our friends and our enemies would know that America seeks peace, but when we fight wars we win them.

    boi ryan already busted the caps in his sleazy unpaid-for sorosbudget

    jesus god america how much more slop does this idiot wanna shovel at the corpulent pentagon piggy pigs

    happyfeet (831175)

  183. I agree with you, that coulter turns the stomach like bad goulash, maybe it’s the meangirl in her,

    narciso (732bc0)

  184. the pentagon was the ones primarily cannibalized in the sequester, enemy action in keeping with obama’s promise to the Iowa plowshares people.

    narciso (732bc0)

  185. 153, 154. Even if by God’s grace we get Cruz by his taking 2 or 3 of the opening four contests the azzlapping Repugnant party, 2 million Federal workers, and 90% of all public ‘servants’ will be in full opposition every step of the way as we, America, reap the whirlwind into the next decade.

    You’re all a day late and a dollar short.

    DNF (755a85)

  186. in new york we say don’t shovel good money after bad snap outta it no soups for you here have a bagel this cab stinks!

    happyfeet (831175)

  187. she might very well be the veep, and we know the delicacies dems treat the fairer sex, don’t we,

    narciso (732bc0)

  188. she might very well be the veep

    this is implausible

    nikkijiggles, hateful divider that she is, prefers to spew bile from the sidelines

    somedays there’s just no avocados and all you want is avocado toast and it’s 6 degrees outside

    happyfeet (831175)

  189. Well, I’ve always found Coulter and Levin too loud and angry for my taste, so much so I don’t listen long enough to know what they say.

    I always thought it was obvious that including the Pentagon was the WH poison pill in the deal that they thought the Repubs would never swallow.

    From the little I know, it has seemed to me that Haley is just one more who got elected with the help of the Tea Party only to turn to “get along” mode.

    IMO, H or not, any appeal to calmer tone
    Needs to include mention that an angry and furious tone is perfectly justified by the situation,
    But just not helpful.

    MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84)

  190. including the Pentagon was the WH poison pill in the deal that they thought the Repubs would never swallow

    it’s the only mechanism in our lifetimes what’s succeeded in restraining spending

    and boi ryan and meghan’s coward pig-slopping daddy pissed it away for a handful of magic beans

    i need a moment

    this just upsets me to no end

    happyfeet (831175)

  191. From 2008 thru 2015, some $4.5T was given to the Wall Street banks through Obama Fed’s Quantitative Easing program with the American people on the hook for the IOU.

    Colonel Haiku (168f33)

  192. 182.

    We as Republicans need to own that truth. We need to recognize our contributions to the erosion of the public trust in America’s leadership. We need to accept that we’ve played a role in how and why our government is broken.

    And then we need to fix it.

    We need to burn it to the ground. Fixing, by every experiential test imaginable, can be accomplished via no other means.

    DNF (755a85)

  193. burn it like a prairie fire burn it like the torch what the lady liberty holds high burn it like bananas foster burn it like excess calories burn it like you mean it

    happyfeet (831175)

  194. no, we must restore the constitution, they are the ones with the torches and the pitch,

    narciso (732bc0)

  195. omg did you just countermand my orders

    happyfeet (831175)

  196. Misogynistic
    passive-aggressive pot shots
    prove he was hatchling

    Colonel Haiku (168f33)

  197. The inspiration was Jonathan L. Howard’s, narciso.

    But Trump, Hillary and Bernie are the Old Ones. Trump and Hillary are 69 now, and Bernie is 74.

    not kthulhu (dbc370)

  198. bernie sanders guy
    gets this gooey white spittle
    in corners of mouth

    Colonel Haiku (168f33)

  199. I like Nikki. I think she’s doing well for a dusky foreign lady in the third most backward state of the Confederacy.

    I don’t like the tokenism. Last year it was Joni Ernst, the year before that Marco Rubio. The GOP showing diversity and inclusiveness. Meh. How about a little backbone and a constructive message, eh?

    nk (dbc370)

  200. peggy noonan applauds the blatant tokenism

    Do Republicans not realize they need more such women, who put up with a great deal and deserve respect, and that for years as a party they’ve had a woman problem? More immediately, do they not realize it is good to have a sunny, well-balanced woman as the momentary face of their party? The other faces, the presidential contenders, are running around like rabid squirrels throwing nuts at each other in the dark. It’s not a good look. In appearing to be and acting like a normal human being, Ms. Haley did more for the party in 20 minutes than they have in two months. So go Nikki!

    happyfeet (831175)

  201. is it me or was that Harry Shearer in a blonde wig and a dress moderating the Democrat debate with that sickly looking fellow?

    Colonel Haiku (168f33)

  202. nk has no time for Nikki, she’s of dot Indian – not feather Indian – heritage.

    Colonel Haiku (168f33)

  203. that is a scurrilous assertion

    happyfeet (831175)

  204. You would know, heh…

    Colonel Haiku (168f33)

  205. Think of all the good Nikki could do in Chicago and – by extension – Illinois!

    Me… I’d just blow ’em up and be done with it…

    Colonel Haiku (168f33)

  206. nikki can start by getting me some avocados

    happyfeet (831175)

  207. although the medici wishes he could avail himself of the twist

    narciso (732bc0)

  208. I don’t like the tokenism. Last year it was Joni Ernst, the year before that Marco Rubio. The GOP showing diversity and inclusiveness. Meh. How about a little backbone and a constructive message, eh?

    nk (dbc370) — 1/18/2016 @ 9:30 am

    I find that to be a strange way to look at things. Why is it “tokenism” just because it’s not a white male issuing the response?

    L.N. Smithee (e750c1)

  209. We as Republicans need to own that truth. We need to recognize our contributions to the erosion of the public trust in America’s leadership. We need to accept that we’ve played a role in how and why our government is broken.
    And then we need to fix it.

    We need to burn it to the ground. Fixing, by every experiential test imaginable, can be accomplished via no other means.

    DNF (755a85) — 1/18/2016 @ 9:12 am

    You really expected Haley to say on behalf of the Republican Party, “we need to burn it to the ground”? Yeah, that works.

    L.N. Smithee (e750c1)

  210. L.N., Nikki Haley is a competent and accomplished lady but not the GOP counterpart of Obama. Not the leader of the loyal opposition. Couple that with a freshman lady Senator last year and a freshman Hispanic Senator the year before that, the implication of tokenism, in the sense that they were picked to show diversity and inclusiveness like I said above, is natural.

    nk (dbc370)

  211. of course not, but one expects a more forceful rebuttal, when the Dems are in charge, they show no such deference,

    narciso (732bc0)

  212. LNS, glad to see your reasoned thoughts. “Burning everything down” means an awful lot of terrible things happening to many people. So the “burn it down” folks are either having a tantrum, or really don’t care about the pain and suffering such a solution would cause.

    But then, these are the same people who kept insisting that Romney was *exactly* the same as BHO. Purity of essence. Boy that upsets some people for the extreme judgement, and I am sorry.

    Not very different from “burn it down,” though.

    I swear to you, Team R is all about a circular firing squad.

    Me, I am going to vote in the primaries. And I am going to vote against HRC or that Bernie Saunders character.

    And I am going to hold my nose as I do. Because hero worship or the pursuit of perfection is silly.

    Eyes on the prize.

    And vote. Instead of not voting, and then kvetching endlessly.

    Simon Jester (2708f4)

  213. And narciso #213, I agree completely. That’s why I liked Cruz’s “apology” recently.

    Simon Jester (2708f4)

  214. The thought of Nikki Haley being second in charge is a joke.
    Cruz/WEST

    mg (31009b)

  215. We need leaders willing to change things drastically, not some female talking elitism to the donor flock.
    Time aint on our side.

    mg (31009b)

  216. I don’t agree with the sentiment, but I do understand it, you see it in academia, they wrustle up ‘two minute hates’ out of nothing, and we’re suppose to act as if they are simply misguided,

    narciso (732bc0)

  217. it’s not an accident, that ayers, took up the gramscian path when his dayjob as wannabe che fell through,

    narciso (732bc0)

  218. If we want to talk about VP, I know in the past some have mentioned Gov. Martinez of NM,
    who I believe was once a Democrat,
    but when she started comparing what she believe to what the two parties believe
    found out that she was a republican and a conservative.

    I wonder what leviticus and our other SW friends think of her.

    As far as burning things,
    you folks out west no better than me about using backfires to prevent even worse damage.
    I don’t know if we are already past the point of no return, myself,
    and if not, I don’t know how hard it will be to reverse course.

    I know to some it will be anathema,
    but the right for gays to live at all and go about their private lives will be much better after a (“true”) Christian revival rather than a sharia takeover.

    MD in Philly (at the moment not in Philly) (deca84)

  219. out west no better
    not “no”, but “know”

    MD in Philly (at the moment not in Philly) (deca84)

  220. that’s for sure not a false dichotomy

    good good now we’re starting to see through the fog

    happyfeet (831175)

  221. As always,
    Jesus was right.
    The scoundrels like Ayers are far more crafty than most of us give them credit for.

    MD in Philly (at the moment not in Philly) (deca84)

  222. Christie called Cruz “the most inside guy in this race,” despited Cruz’s frequent claims to be an outsider seeking to reform the party.

    “I think Ted once again is trying to be Mr. Ivy League cute,” he charged. “He’s Harvard and Princeton, he’s federal court clerkships, he’s government jobs, and somehow he’s an outsider? If you took his name off and you put that résumé down, that would look like the consummate Washington insider.”

    there’s absolutely NO substance to this unwarranted criticism

    jeez talk about an ass-pull

    happyfeet (831175)

  223. don’t believe me just ask Goldy Sacky hospitality committee chairperson Heidi McFreedomPickles

    happyfeet (831175)

  224. most inside guy“?

    I love the smell of desperation in the morning.

    ThOR (a52560)

  225. Stay Puft, is just ticked that Donald stole his loud guy yelling shtick,

    narciso (732bc0)

  226. Yup. What Christie said about Cruz is another thing Hillary supporters I talk to say about Cruz.

    nk (dbc370)

  227. Hillary supporters have no business slinging mud or insulting anybody. They apparently have no morals or ethics, IMO.

    Clinically brain-dead.

    Colonel Haiku (aacf41)

  228. 182. …It was my opinion that Nikki Haley acted with a eye toward 2016 and a possible VP slot when she announced that she would now insist the Confederate Flag be removed from state grounds in South Carolina. As a black man with a father from the Jim Crow south, I have always opposed the banishment of that flag because I don’t like attempts to erase history for political expediency — that’s a Soviet thing to do

    L.N. Smithee (e698ae) — 1/18/2016 @ 8:26 am

    Hear, hear.

    There are other points you make that I could take issue with, but this one I agree wholeheartedly. The American left has adopted with enthusiasm the old Bolshevik joke that the future is certain, it’s only the past we’re unsure about. The airbrush of history is mightier than the sword.

    Steve57 (17e737)

  229. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/teacher-arm-bitten-alligator-returns-work-article-1.2495215

    An aside. Click on the link. It’s a story about a woman who unfortunately lost her arm to an alligator in Florida. The journo school grads helpfully provide the readers with a stock photo of a representative reptile. Look at that animal in the photo.

    Tell me why I need to listen to these same people about the science of global warming.

    Steve57 (17e737)

  230. 211. Did I really expect anything more than a hat tip for her unacknowledged ‘truth’, that Repugnants are a mock opposition, eager for nothing more than their own gratuity?

    You jest.

    Respond rather to my point, that there has not been for decades, the slightest hint that amelioration of our Federal government is possible. Government grew during Reagan’s stewardship. It’s output is all lies all of the time, sewing the seeds of its, and our destruction at every turn.

    DNF (755a85)

  231. Trump has New York values? OK, do NY values include building a wall along the Southern border or having Mexico pay for it, insisting illegal immigrants leave the US and apply for legal entry, pausing Muslim immigration till we come to an agreement on how to handle it, building up our armed forces, taking care of veterans, etc, etc.

    The way I see it, those are American values and if residents of New York share those values then they’re NY values too.

    ropelight (bb228b) — 1/17/2016 @ 2:16 pm

    Why do all you Trump supporters keep coming back to that as if he is actually going to do it. That promise is just a con to bring in the rubes. Trump has been a Progressive and a Crony Capitalist for his entire adult life. What has he ever done in his life to prove his conservatism, all he ever does is talk. This is the same crap we went thru with Obama, his acolytes worshiping everything they wanted to hear and ignoring what they didn’t want to hear. Incredible SSDD.

    Mike Giles (3dc5b9)

  232. speaking of values how ghetto is this?

    “The joint venture you currently represent will have to purchase the naphtha volumes needed to meet your production plan for 2016,” reads a letter sent to companies working in the Orinoco.

    venezuela lol

    happyfeet (831175)

  233. I don’t know the future, and contrary to your silly claims, you don’t either Mike. So, given the limits on our ability to actually know what the future holds I guess we’ll just have to expect the outsider candidates (Trump and Cruz) intend to do what they say.

    Experience already proves both GOP establishment candidates and Dem candidates are exempt from any responsibility to actually do anything they promise voters. That’s the one reliable political value we can all agree transcends American party politics. “Don’t follow leaders, watch the parking meters.”

    So, given the deck is stacked against the voters, we decide which guy seems most likely to uphold the principles he advocates. We take our best shot. Sure, the game is crooked but it the only game we the people get to play.

    ropelight (9e7c9d)

  234. RIP Glenn Frey, Eagles guitarist/ singer

    Colonel Haiku (aacf41)

  235. Peaceful, easy feelin’

    Colonel Haiku (aacf41)

  236. good lord the rapture is upon use

    we’re gonna need way more than two corinthians

    happyfeet (831175)

  237. *us* i mean

    happyfeet (831175)

  238. “Given the limits on our ability to actually know what the future holds I guess we’ll just have to expect the outsider candidates (Trump and Cruz) intend to do what they say.”

    – ropelight

    “If you liked what happened to the country over the last 7 years and want more of the same, vote for Hillary, Cruz, or Rubio. It just doesn’t make much difference.”

    – rope light

    Hillary and Rubio deemed “outsider candidates” who intend to do what they say! And I’d imagine, by that standard, that it doesn’t make much difference whether Hillary or Trump is elected?

    It’s gonna really hard to keep track of your positions on things, isn’t it? But that’s the point. You’re a better Trump acolyte than you know.

    Leviticus (efada1)

  239. Focus, Leviticus, focus.

    ropelight (9e7c9d)

  240. I’m tired of being told what GOP candidates can and can’t say, as if random comments like this can actually lose an election. If all it takes to lose is “47%” or “New York values” while Democrats say any outlandish or hateful things they want, Republicans might as well give up now. The rules have changed, thanks in large part to Trump.

    If this is the case, it’s ironic — since Trump is going around feigning offense at Cruz’s statement . . . just the sort of reaction the PC police have when you said something you weren’t “supposed” to say.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  241. Ironic, yes, but (as you know, and have been saying for months) it also tells us something about Trump. Trump, not Cruz, is the one acting out of self-interest and self-promotion. Trump is doing good things but for the wrong reasons, and that’s why I’m for Cruz.

    DRJ (15874d)


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