Patterico's Pontifications

2/25/2016

GOP Debate Open Thread

Filed under: General — Dana @ 5:02 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Here we go again. Another debate, and another opportunity to watch Donald Trump boast, brag, bully, punch, and pulverize his opponents. Oh. And make up crap, which will go unchallenged.

This is the night Trump must be cut down to size. Unfortunately, Rubio and Cruz have wasted a lot of time stupidly bitch-slapping each other for second place. But since there is no chance of a Rubio/Cruz team double-punching Trump, and Rubio said he won’t go after him, it’s up to the authentic Conservative to do the job. Ted Cruz needs to take off the gloves and come at Trump with everything he’s got. Him him on his dishonesty, hypocrisy, double-talk, flip-flops, empty rhetoric, liberal beliefs, and even his New York values. Throw the kitchen sink at him, Ted, because God knows he’s given you plenty of material to work with. TIME TO GET LOUD!! This single debate will essentially determine the presumptive nominee of the GOP, so what you waiting for??!!

Anyway, the debate begins at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time and you can watch it on on CNN.

–Dana

358 Responses to “GOP Debate Open Thread”

  1. It’s going to be a train wreck, isn’t it?

    Dana (86e864)

  2. Reposted from a previous thread;

    Hello all, here is today’s epiphany…Trump is our nominee. Some of you are like me (yesterday) incredulous but it will happen. This is a rape event and should be dealt with as such. Your panties are coming off, there will be forcible entry, you should keep your wits so you can make a criminal complaint afterwards.

    pieter, why are you thrashing the Patterico forum buzz? Well, I had a very interesting conversation with a CW4 today whom I respect…a constitionalist, libertarian, purist 2A guy, Cruz supporter, but adamant that in the general election there is no other choice but Trump. I rebutted his faults that we’ve discussed ad nauseam on this forum. Didn’t matter. This guy is smart, eloquent, logical, purposeful…a future Trump voter.

    The reasonable folk, no different than you or I, will vote (eventually) for Trump.

    We, me, us, I need to reconcile the brutal truth that Trump is going to happen. You have no say in the matter, prison love will occur without your consent. Scream and cry, appeal to the authorities…to no avail or petition.

    This hurts to understand. What is required is a plan to rationalize the aftermath. There is no other reality.

    pieter (ec44a2)

  3. Having Kasich and Carson in the room tonight is the biggest problem with them remaining in the race at all. Trump would have all that much more time to screw-up and Rubio/Cruz would be able to direct more firepower at him, instead of taking the more fleeting time they will have as a result of these two fools to defining themselves. Carson and Kasich also give much more wiggle room for moderator shenanigans, with questions designed more for keeping them involved, than for allowing more full-throated conservatism from Cruz/Rubio.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  4. As the famous Mr. Buffer has said “Let’s get ready to rumble.”

    mg (31009b)

  5. Here we go.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  6. A poli-sci prof at Stony Brook has an election model that correctly picked the winner of the last five Presidential elections. He says there’s a 97 percent chance The Donald will beat Hillary, and a 99 percent chance that he would beat Bernie.

    Read all about it: http://nypost.com/2016/02/25/get-ready-for-president-trump-says-election-whiz-whos-scary-accurate/

    Deuce Frehley (73c323)

  7. Oh God, Dana Bash again.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  8. ‘do they listen to zathras’

    http://www.newsbusters.org/journalists/dana-bash

    if you want a babylon five reference, president clark

    narciso (732bc0)

  9. “For” the land of the free.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  10. Shut up, Kasich.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  11. Right on cue, worthless Carson sets a tone which benefits Trump.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  12. Shouldn’t Marco Rubio’s eyebrows go further in?

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  13. Press 1 for Rubio and his stump.

    mg (31009b)

  14. I could have watched five more minutes of the hockey game.

    nk (dbc370)

  15. Trump would make a great Cleveland Browns fan…”we never win anymore.”

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  16. This is a pointless speedbump prior to Trump’s nomination. Mere salt in the wound for those that hope.

    pieter (ec44a2)

  17. Trump confident Rubio will back up his bullshit attacks on Cruz.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  18. Carson staying in the race and Rubio’s soft touch for Trump are both enigmas, until you realize that Trump is all about buying people. I am convinced he’s offered both these politicians something for their tacit assistance. Many factors in this race suggest Cruz is the only legitimate alternative to Trump.

    pieter, Trump hasn’t won yet by a longshot. He is an incredibly bizarre frontrunner and anything can happen.

    Dustin (2a8be7)

  19. At least Rubio is going after Trump. Cruz gave him a total pass.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  20. FINALLY Rubio attacks Trump

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  21. Rubio is too short to be President…he needs to drop out for the good of the party…

    What the Truck? (acddd7)

  22. well what happened to the candidates who did go after trump, like graham and perry, they went nowhere, fast,

    narciso (732bc0)

  23. Marco is doing a good job. Finally.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  24. POLISH WORKERS!!

    What the Truck? (acddd7)

  25. The chiiiiiiilllllllllldren!!!!!!!! Fuck you, Wolf.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  26. BOOM from Cruz.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  27. Mr. Trump so friendly

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  28. Ted and Marco are doing great.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  29. Ted is sarcasm pooper he speaks with disdain

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  30. I am LOVING this.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  31. Finally, Cruz took credit for being the outsider and nailed Trump for his cronyism in the same breath.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  32. I wanna fancy tedcruz loan I can get tableside guacamole

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  33. makeup horror show this is the tragedy and the terror of kasich face

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  34. Carson and Kasich don’t belong up there. Time to get a real dogfight going and these two pups don’t have the teeth to do the job.

    Comanche Voter (1d5c8b)

  35. leth thecure all the borderth

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  36. Go home, Ben. Do the free world a favor and leave the stage.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  37. Cruz Missile on your pooper, happy feet

    mg (31009b)

  38. So Wolf cuts off Cruz when he is trying to defend himself.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  39. What Comanche voter said. Carson, especially. He’s not President material.

    nk (dbc370)

  40. Ben Carson is for amnesty. What is he doing?

    John Hitchcock (0997d2)

  41. tallest wall ever eff yeah

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  42. Heh. Trump: Now the wall is 10′ taller.

    Dana (86e864)

  43. red velvet oreos are delicious to eat

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  44. Yeah Rubio!

    Dana (86e864)

  45. I don’t like Marco. But man, he has my respect tonight. Make them in America!

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  46. Don’t you people understand that Trump is going to make America great again?
    That’s okay, neither do I!

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  47. Go after the Trump brand. It makes him crazy.

    Dana (86e864)

  48. I’m proud of Rubio, tonight.

    nk (dbc370)

  49. Oh it’s charro I love her

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  50. More of the chillllllllldren! Screw you, too, Miss Espanol.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  51. Trump: yap yap yap yap yap Let me talk! yap yap yap yap

    John Hitchcock (0997d2)

  52. Wow! Charro still looks so young.

    nk (dbc370)

  53. coochie coochie

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  54. Heh, happyfeet.

    nk (dbc370)

  55. Kasich should float an afternoon talk show in the mold of Dr. Phil, but sans the snark and the hyper-critical judging of his guests.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  56. Watching Rubio flip flop flip floppity flop flop.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  57. rubio’s hair is not his amigo tonight

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  58. Now we are back to the lying liar Rubio (on the question of his saying different things).

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  59. Cruz needs to hit Trump right now!

    Dana (86e864)

  60. There’s a statute of limitations on lying.

    Yikes!

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  61. Rubio with the classic Clintonian straw man. The issue was NOT DACA. It was about the timing of deportations.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  62. Trumpty dumpty sat on a wall
    Trumpty dumpty had a great fall
    and all the conservatives lived happily ever after

    mg (31009b)

  63. Rubio’s never said “uh,” “um,” “you know,” or “well,” in his entire life. That’s classic. You know, well, uh, uh, he’s a RINO. (LOL)

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  64. “The Obama Clinton economy”?

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  65. Bleach. Shut up, Kasich. Just shut up. If you can’t take the heat of a debate, please, leave.

    Dana (86e864)

  66. *blech*…

    Dana (86e864)

  67. Rubio slips Trump teh kielbasa

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  68. Kasich does not scream, he makes sure you know.

    But he does talk. And talk. And talk.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  69. I can’t understand the Mexican lady. Is there a 1 to push for English.

    mg (31009b)

  70. As a trucker, I get the opportunity to hear lots of accents. I don’t have any problem understanding her. But I gave up trying to understand cajuns.

    John Hitchcock (0997d2)

  71. What sentient being, who saw the Rubio/Trump throwdown, thought Trump prevailed? Well, that would be half of Luntz’ focus group. This country is so fucked.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  72. she doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, in spanish, so don’t worry about that,

    narciso (732bc0)

  73. Kasich is continually trying to be the scold of the ill mannered on the stage with him. His arrogance is so off-putting.

    Dana (86e864)

  74. Trump has employed thousands of Hispanics. Some were even legal!

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  75. Smirky McSmurkin

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  76. Guns and ammo sales could rise under Trump.
    Unbelievable.

    mg (31009b)

  77. “You’ll be able to respond, but we’re going to let Governor Kasich in, he’s been waiting patiently, m’kay.”

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  78. in maria’s mexico, they don’t have a long term illegal problem they don’t let them stay in the first place,

    narciso (732bc0)

  79. Trump shown as a liar, Rubio has the benefit of a planned majority crowd sympathetic to his sound bites…doom, doom I tell you. Trump is your inevitable overlord. This debate is an exercise in delusional masturbation.

    Doom.

    pieter (ec44a2)

  80. Ted just hit it out of the park against The Donald on federal courts. WOW!

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  81. Reid is retiring I thought

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  82. If words have any meaning whatsoever, Cruz just killed Trump. Of course, words (and deeds) do not matter. Luntz group gave Trump 94% like on his lying answer on religious liberty.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  83. Searchlight never goes away, he’s like the evil preacher in poltergeist,

    narciso (732bc0)

  84. Trump is despicable.

    mg (31009b)

  85. When it’s several planes of Egypt strikes you in your tracks… led by sorrow stolen down in East LA… when they keep your spinners and take your tires away… when you get your last presecription from your favorite quack… you know that it is written, you know what it can mean… it’s like livin’ in an airport underneath a plane… it’s like sleepin’ on a freeway in the center lane

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  86. Where’s JRT? Kasich, JRT. That is what a political hack is.

    nk (dbc370)

  87. Katich should mail it in.

    mg (31009b)

  88. Mr. Trump will do all the religious liberty I think

    We will be free free free hallelujah

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  89. The guy from Ohio

    mg (31009b)

  90. Fruit salad!

    nk (dbc370)

  91. PinchI puta no me das osco

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  92. It’s about *&^*(&^&* time someone mentioned Trump supports the individual mandate.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  93. I’m a pick out all the watermelon that’s just who I am

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  94. I’m about 15 minutes behind real time. Any reason why I shouldn’t just fast-forward through Carson & Kasich?

    Beldar (fa637a)

  95. None whatsoever, Beldar.

    nk (dbc370)

  96. Some of you guys with your “Rubio ain’t alllll thattt briiight…”

    God, seriously, this guy is a better extemporaneous speaker than we’ve ever seen. There’s no “Uhhhhh,” “I dunnoknow,” or “Ummmmm…”

    We’ve had too many nominees (since Reagan) who stumble and stammer and trip over themselves to express three consecutives sentences with noun-verb agreement. Cruz or Rubio is our best bet.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  97. I’m looking forward to Mr. Trump’s common sense reforms

    and saving money too!

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  98. Thanks, nk! I trust your judgment implicitly on this.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  99. Let’s talk about the effin’ economy, lawlessness, degraded military, etc., etc., etc., tell Wolfie to kiss your ass with his questions that lead the discussion away from just how badly the Democrats have fu*ked this country.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  100. Don’t take it, Rubio. Keep hitting him on his lack of a plan.

    Dana (86e864)

  101. Rubio finally figured out how to take down Trump!

    Dana (86e864)

  102. I am literally laughing out loud. 5 seconds ago!!!!

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  103. “NOW HE’S REPEATING HIMSELF !!!”

    Yowser!

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  104. I don’t repeat myself.
    I don’t repeat myself.

    John Hitchcock (0997d2)

  105. By the by…Telemundo mujer got 30 minutes to ask questions. Hugh Hewitt got 10. THIS, is CNN.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  106. Like Beldar, I’m about 15 minutes behind… but I must say Rubio is tearing some new assh*les

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  107. Kasich is wasting my time it’s very disrespectful

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  108. Imagine just how much better and more fierce this would be tonight if the moderators didn’t have the tool in their hands to go to Carson and Kasich to tamp things down!!!! Trump might could actually have finally had his Lonesome Rhodes moment.

    Thanks for nothing, John and Ben.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  109. Teh fabric of America… Benetton

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  110. I’m about 15 minutes behind real time. Any reason why I shouldn’t just fast-forward through Carson & Kasich?

    Watching in real time and I still keep hitting MY fast-forward button.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  111. there’s a giant hot dog on the wall yum

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  112. I just fast-forwarded through all of your comments…

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

  113. Who the heck is dying on the streets??? Where is this happening???

    Dana (86e864)

  114. RobertsCare… ouch

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  115. Give Hugh more time.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  116. I’ll give Donald this: He knows about billions of dollars of fraud.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  117. I don’t repeat myself.
    It will be great.
    I’ve never said that before.

    John Hitchcock (0997d2)

  118. forwarded through all of your comments…

    MD in Philly (at the moment not in Philly) (deca84) — 2/25/2016 @ 6:49 pm

    9 out of 10 doctors would tell you you made the right decision…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  119. Hit Trump in the mouth AGAIN! Go Ted! Go Marco! Do it!

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  120. The guy from Ohio needs to be stamped.

    mg (31009b)

  121. kasich nailed one

    good job kiddo

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  122. His financials show he’s worth over $10 billion? Really? I don’t think so.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  123. 9 out of 10 doctors agree the 10th doctor will never agree with the other 9.

    John Hitchcock (0997d2)

  124. Trump’s already whining that Hugh’s asking him questions….boo hoo.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  125. I never listen to pooper radio shows

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  126. We can’t let Rubio get elected, he’s so thirsty and licking his lips all the time that he would develop “punch mouth”… that nasty discoloration around the mouth that results from that malady. Can’t have that!

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  127. 9/11 jokes aren’t funny, but the other two are.

    Dejectedhead (6f18ea)

  128. God, Trump is a real lout.

    Dana (86e864)

  129. well why did they pass this law then,

    http://www.emtala.com/faq.htm

    pete wilson is still proud of breaking that tie,

    narciso (732bc0)

  130. In reference to a previous thread,
    no, I am not delusional.
    There have been very few delegates awarded so far,
    when Cruz convincingly wins Texas, all of a sudden he’s going to have a lot of delegates himself,
    and then it will be Cruz and Trump that have won primaries and have significant #’s of delegates.
    Rubio will probably last until Super Tuesday and Florida, but if he doesn’t win Florida, and some of you Floridians say he will not, it will be hard for him to continue.
    Remember, 60% or more in every primary has been against Trump.

    Now, had you told me 6 months ago that Cruz was going to win the nomination, I would have said no way.
    Trump will win if the anti-Trump continues to be split in 4 ways, but I don’t see that as happening too much longer.

    And I think extrapolations from previous election cycles mean little, what has happened with Trump and the persistent multi-field has all been uncharted territory.

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

  131. Rubio needs a Slick Watts headband.

    mg (31009b)

  132. Only plus with a President Trump would be teh smokin’ hot First Lady! Amirite?

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  133. Go, Ted, go! Keep hitting him in the mouth!

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  134. sleazy Ted is pooper

    He says clinton foundation accepted monies from foreigners while she was secretary of state

    Then says Mr. Trump can’t criticize Hillary cause he made donation

    But Mr. Trump is not foreigner

    There is no logics in what sleazy Ted say

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  135. His company is large! It’s huuuuuge!

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  136. Couldn’t find the remote for half a minute. Accidentally listened to John Kasich’s answer on religious liberties.

    This debate will drive Kasich’s numbers in Texas below 1% if he weren’t already there.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  137. Wolf saves Trump every time he’s on the ropes.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  138. well kasich is good audio somi…, wait what was I saying,

    narciso (732bc0)

  139. Well, the folks who said Rubio and Cruz needed to go after Trump got their wish. We’ll see if it makes a difference.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  140. Trump is like an Alpha Beta trying to debate current events with a Hillsdale professor.

    John Hitchcock (0997d2)

  141. Kasich has been practicing non-answers all his life. You know who else never gives you a straight answer? Doctors.

    nk (dbc370)

  142. Carson and Kasich are good men. But they’re sucking up oxygen. I wish they would get out so that Cruz, Rubio, and The Orange Toupee can battle it out.
    This debate is so much better than when we had 38 people on stage. I mean, who cares what Rand Paul thinks about medicinal marijuana when ISIS is cutting people’s heads off.
    Sheesh.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  143. Kasich and Carson being there saved Trump, Pat. This can not be overstated. Even if Wolf would try to intervene in a three-way Trump/Cruz/Rubio debate, there would be no place for Trump to hide. The Senators would have finally shredded DT.

    No. I will not let this go. I am furious. And sad.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  144. Seriously… a smokin’ hot First Lady who speaks with a Bela Lugosi accent!?!? Shiver me timbers…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  145. Only plus with a President Trump would be teh smokin’ hot First Lady! Amirite?

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 2/25/2016 @ 7:02 pm

    **flame suit on**

    What ever do you mean? I thought we had that with Sir Hillary.

    **ducks and runs**

    Bill H (dcdd7b)

  146. You know who else never gives you a straight answer? Doctors.
    nk (dbc370) — 2/25/2016 @ 7:08 pm

    The shortest distance between two points is a straight line…

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

  147. Go to Europe, Haiku. The brothels are of full of them — they’re from former Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia Poland, Ukraine, but found in every other country.

    nk (dbc370)

  148. They have drive-throughs in Switzerland.

    nk (dbc370)

  149. They have drive-throughs in Switzerland.

    nk (dbc370) — 2/25/2016 @ 7:13 pm

    The Dutch would like to have a word with you.

    Bill H (dcdd7b)

  150. Hat tip, nk… I wanna party with YOU, cowboy!

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  151. “The Palestinians are not a real estate deal.”

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  152. “He thinks the Palestineans are a real estate deal.” Yep.

    Dana (86e864)

  153. Even Greece?

    mg (31009b)

  154. roobs literally looks up to Mr. Trump (it’s cause he’s so squidgey)

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  155. Rubio just killed the Israel question…but I’m sure his hair looked too nice for some people. “It’s not a real estate deal.” POW!

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  156. I’m a negotiator. When people only understand brute force, I’ll give them words.

    John Hitchcock (0997d2)

  157. well they are kind of hung up on eminent domain, in the entire state of israel, without recompense,

    narciso (732bc0)

  158. Greece is too poor and, anyway, they have the German women who come down there looking for exotic lovers.

    nk (dbc370)

  159. Poor Marco, no banana pellet for you. The chimp doesn’t seem to realize that yes, in fact, the Arab-Israeli mess is essentially a real-estate deal.

    DCSCA (a343d5)

  160. the cable news propaganda sluts are obsessed with this “North Korea” thing

    yawn yawn yawn says the little pikachu

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  161. eminent domain, in the entire state of israel, without recompense,
    narciso (732bc0) — 2/25/2016 @ 7:17 pm

    I understood that one!!

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

  162. Blitzer needs to ask John Kasich a few more questions and stop cutting him off all the time, said nobody

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  163. Carson’s story about the IRS is easily the most effective thing he’s ever said in this campaign

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  164. Trump praises Reid teh Snake

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  165. Trump won the Drudge Poll about an hour ago. They’re flooding the vote. And the debate’s not even over. *Yawn.*

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  166. Kasich has done a good job in Ohio, but he’s such a pain in the ass.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  167. Wow. Luntz group will not be fun viewing for Cruz folks. Really bad for Ted. As in ZERO believed Cruz won the first half of the debate. Split for Rubio and DFT, with Rubio slightly ahead. Even freaking Kasich had one supporter on this.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  168. Ceasefires are stupid when you’re winning. Lee would have loved to have had a ceasefire with Sherman. It’s a sign of weakness on the part of Putin.

    nk (dbc370)

  169. “Paging Doctor Howard, Doctor Fine and Doctor Carson. Paging Doctor Howard, Doctor Fine and Doctor Carson.” You’ve earned some time and a banana pellet reward, Ben.

    DCSCA (a343d5)

  170. well some Ahians I know would disagree,

    narciso (732bc0)

  171. There will be at least one fool who will tout the Drudge poll as if it means anything.

    John Hitchcock (0997d2)

  172. the palestinians have wanted the whole table since 1920, not 48, or 67,

    narciso (732bc0)

  173. Cruz hitting Hillary Clinton’s felonious activities and scumbaggery and CNN starts hitting the bell like its BOC’s Don’t Fear the Reaper…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  174. Mr Hitchcock, nobody in their right mind would ever tout the Drudge Poll! (LOL)

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  175. There’s nobody on this blog who has done more to bring world peace than I have. Nobody.

    nk (dbc370)

  176. Mr. Drudge says roobs is pecker

    Haha silly roobs

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  177. Your exotic,nk.

    mg (31009b)

  178. I never support a loser. Trump is the next president.. And he’s looking commanding so far.

    The Emperor (c7fe72)

  179. Wolf is a sheep.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  180. Ted out debates all these rino’s

    mg (31009b)

  181. Trump will destroy Hillary. And she’s scared.

    The Emperor (c7fe72)

  182. Cruz just had his Candy moment. Like Mitt, he failed to take command. Trump won the exchange by getting away with his bombast.

    Freaking Reince can kiss my butt, too. CNN gets more than one debate?

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  183. E’ry’budy’s a RINO! (LOL)

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  184. They just asked Cruz about the Apple case. They gave him HALF the allotted 1:15 to answer. Hey Wolf – RULES RULES RULES. They did it to Carson just now, too. Then they let Kasich barge in – AGAINST the rules rules rules!

    Wake the F up, Ted!!!!!!!!!!!

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  185. Kasich is looking good tonite. Where has he been?

    The Emperor (c7fe72)

  186. Charro, again. Why no Canada wall? Seriously?

    nk (dbc370)

  187. Wolf Blitzer is a lowlife scum-sucking liar. I think he has promised Cruz a chance to respond and immediately moved on to something else about seven times. I will count when the transcript is available.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  188. Carson’s story about the IRS is easily the most effective thing he’s ever said in this campaign

    Did he have a story? I wasn’t listening.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  189. The aim of this debate is to slow down Trump’s momentum and draw blood from him, I don’t see that happen. Meanwhile Trump has opened a 16 point lead over Rubio in Florida according to a new poll. So there’s that.

    The Emperor (c7fe72)

  190. Why not give dough to San Juan?
    Cause pretty soon it all gone.
    If you do they give big cheer.
    There is no point, they’re all here.

    nk (dbc370)

  191. Very compelling story about his first hand experience with government corruption

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  192. this entire debate is a total slug fest. Historical!

    G (6a553a)

  193. Teh Chimperor speaks about destruction…

    This is a teh world destruction, your life ain’t nothing.
    The campaign race is becoming a disgrace.
    Politicians fighting with verbal warfare.
    Not giving a damn about the people who vote
    Nostradamus predicts the coming of the Antichrist.
    Hey, look out, teh Donald is on the rise.
    The Democratic-Socialist Relationship,
    won’t stand in the way of the Islamic force.
    The CIA is looking for dirt on other peeps
    The FBI is dumber than you think.
    Brainwashed citizens to game the system.
    Using TV and movies – progressives of course.
    Yes, the world is headed for destruction

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  194. nk, Lee never faced Sherman … But not because he didn’t want to. He couldn’t get rid of Grant.

    BobStewartatHome (e34c16)

  195. Trump swabs must be democrats or latin maids.

    mg (31009b)

  196. he was audited after the prayer breakfast.

    narciso (732bc0)

  197. “Nobody knows more about politicians than I do.”

    That’s right, Donald, because you’ve greased them for 40 years.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  198. Cruz, the supposed nasty and vile person, continues to be too much the gentleman. Memo to Ted: These tool moderators are not SCOTUS Justices to whom you must show great deference.

    Rubio clearly won this debate. Cruz was very good, but blew too many opportunities. Trump, by all rights, should be shamed into defeat now. Yet, he held his populist ground. Thanks to Carson, Kasich, and Wolfie, he got away with it.

    Rules! Rules! Rules! Rules!

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  199. Blitzed played Crowley for Trump.

    mg (31009b)

  200. If I had said Johnston, only you and Beldar would not have thought I was talking about Miami Vice, Bob. 😉

    nk (dbc370)

  201. Blitzer

    mg (31009b)

  202. Trump is talking to CNN about Marco sweating too much.
    That’s such an ethnic stereotype. But it plays to a certain percentage of his constituency. Why not just say Marco was wearing a “zoot suit”?

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  203. I’m kidding, I’m kidding.

    nk (dbc370)

  204. My God, Trump just lied during the post-interview debate with Chris Cuomo. Referring to the debate: “I didn’t repeat myself.”

    Dana (86e864)

  205. It’s the New York style. Monty Python was channeling New Yorkers in the Dead Parrot sketch.

    nk (dbc370)

  206. Trump also speculated that perhaps he was being audited by the IRS because he’s such a strong Christian. I think Cuomo nearly died when he suggested that.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  207. perhaps the argument sketch,

    narciso (732bc0)

  208. Does it seem like Blitzer wants Trump to be the nominee? Why would that be? Can our resident Trumpers take a guess? Actually there’s two reasons.

    Gerald A (7c7ffb)

  209. Trump/Pelosi/2016

    mg (31009b)

  210. I tried to watch the debate three times. Turned back to Elementary three times. All I could hear was Trumps mouth going and nothing but crap coming out. All I know is the democrats must be elated. They were doomed to lose this election after this crappy Obama and their crappy Hillary! but it looks like Trump changed that. Best get used to President Clinton.

    Rev. Hoagie™® (f4eb27)

  211. well he’s not the smartest knife in the drawer, think farrell’s connery on jeopardy,

    narciso (732bc0)

  212. Cuomo also obviously wants Trump as the nominee. It was a series of softball questions of the kind a Democrat generally gets.

    Gerald A (7c7ffb)

  213. Gerald A,

    Wolf was blocking and tackling for The Donald. He’s Candy Crowley with facial hair. Nevermind…I mean, fifty pounds lighter. Wut!?

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  214. I am having very negative thoughts about Carson and Kasich. Why are they there? Kasich angling for a cabinet position? To be expected. Carson because of ego? Savior complex? I think so.

    nk (dbc370)

  215. BTW, Pace brand salsa is pitiful. Tostitos brand is much superior. Don’t be fooled by commercials with cowboys.

    nk (dbc370)

  216. Nk, I’ve heard it bandied about that Carson is in to grow his email list. Money maker.

    Dana (86e864)

  217. Well Ace, for one, thinks this was a game-changer.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  218. Cage rattler- Marco the Chimp. Threw the poo. Monkey shines won the night. But no primaries. No banana pellet for you.

    Cage rattled- Alamo Ted! Alamo Ted! He’ll steal your woman; then he’ll rob your head; Alamo Ted! Alamo Ted! He came home to Texas, to sleep in his own bed; to wake up Weepers Wednesday; to find his campaign dead. (Apologies to Riders Of The Purple Sage and ‘Panama Red.’)

    Gorilla in the room- Trump. Dragged his American Touristers into the belly of the beast, strode out, knuckles dragging, toward the nomination. “Swing for the fences, boys.” Kasich now carries his bags.

    Big loser- Doctor Ben Carson. Should be going ape sh-t over CNN short-changing his face time.

    DCSCA (a343d5)

  219. Okay, I’ve finally caught up to the ending, after fast-forwarding almost all of Carson & Kasich. My take:

    Marco Rubio was very, very entertaining tonight. He displayed an ability that, among politicians, is as rare as hen’s teeth — stand-up improv comedy. I had to pause my DVR at one point during that “he’s repeating himself” schtick to race to the bathroom and prophylactically empty my bladder lest I pee myself, I was laughing so hard. Yes, I’m a man of a certain age, but I rarely laugh that hard.

    Rubio’s performance is certain to translate into some votes, because it made him seem much more personable than I’ve ever seen him before, and quite a bit more personable than anyone on the stage except for Carson.

    On substance, I thought Cruz was flawless, and I think his performance will drive voter turnout in his favor in Texas.

    I don’t think Rubio was flawless on substance, and I particularly thought that he ended up looking too cute by half in the early exchange about his statements in Spanish on Telemundo. But overall, he certainly had his best debate performance ever tonight.

    Anyone who can support Donald Trump after a performance like that is from a species that I think must be alien to me. I feel as if I’m living in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

    Is it possible that Trump is the carrier agent — the prime vector, or patient zero, or whatever they call it — for the zombie apocalypse? Are his supporters perhaps not boorish or ignorant, but instead infected? The Sherlock Holmes rule is leading me in that direction, ’cause zombies seem at this point merely improbable by comparison to the impossibility that a rational person could swallow this con-man’s spectacular line of manure.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  220. What say you, Mr. Feet? Braaaaaains? Who will speak up for Mr. Trump here tonight?

    Beldar (fa637a)

  221. Trump refused to shake either Rubio’s or Cruz’ extended hands.

    Baby. Big, soft, crying cry-baby.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  222. It’s a good thing that the debate stage floor was brilliant red. I’m pretty sure Trump left a blood trail on his way out.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  223. Cruz mentioned a video of Trump supporting the Libya war. He said it was on his website. Does anyone have a link?

    I’ve tried to find it, but Cruz’s website does not agree with my PCs, at all, now or in the past. It’s very script-heavy and even triggers click-hijacking alerts, and is largely unusable for me. (in fairness, I have similar issues with some other highly-complex websites too)

    I support Cruz for President, but I wouldn’t vote for him for website designer in chief. 🙂

    Arizona CJ (da673d)

  224. Trump will win the general election. He’s going to cut a more moderate and conciliatory tone when he’s confirmed as the nominee. He’s going to name-brand hillary and keep her answering questions while he keeps soaring in the polls. It will be really ugly but he will win. Cheer up people. I’m usually right when it comes to this. (in Trump voice) I’m the only person on this blog who knows how to pick a winner. Nobody else here does that but me. 🙂

    The Emperor (c7fe72)

  225. I think Trump supporters are feeling a bit embarrassed tonight. Now, whether that translates into supporting another candidate or just holding the line and digging in, who knows.

    Dana (86e864)

  226. Trump in post-debate interview: “I’m somebody who went to the best college [sic] and I got very good marks” — says the guy who won’t release his transcripts, or his tax returns.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  227. Arizona CJ,

    I thought Cruz said the video would be up tomorrow on his website.

    Dana (86e864)

  228. I’ve been nothing but wrong throughout this whole primary season, so I’m making no predictions.

    JVW (9e3c77)

  229. Trump refused to shake either Rubio’s or Cruz’ extended hands.

    Baby. Big, soft, crying cry-baby.

    Beldar (fa637a) — 2/25/2016 @ 8:41 pm

    We know how that move plays out in Texas. But too late to make an ad about it, and anyone who hasn’t made their mind up yet is daffy.

    Dustin (2a8be7)

  230. Why didn’t Cruz and Rubio attack Trump months ago? And why didn’t Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh lay into Trump months ago?

    Either the world’s on fire and the country’s going down the toilet, or it’s not. But when you’re in position to “do something” about it, you’ve gotta throw some punches. Cruz, Rubio, Levin, and Limbaugh will all “survive” financially, but for the zillions of Americans who are getting hurt each month by left wing policies, we’re counting on THOSE GUYS to do some fighting on our behalf. Certainly, we want guys running for President to throw their weight around on the debate stage, but in the case of those chatterboxes Levin and Limbaugh—damn, those two blabbermouths are sitting in front of a microphone for three hours a day, and each of them has been thumping their own chest for years about fidelity to conservative principles and fighting the good fight and all those cliches, yet they sat on their hands for months as Trump The Guy Who Donated Money to Nancy Pelosi just steamrolled everybody. John McCain is not a perfect conservative, but where are our talk show hosts when someone’s saying McCain’s a “loser” for getting shot down over Vietnam? John McCain suffered beatings that Levin and Limbaugh could never relate to. If someone like Keith Olbermann had talked smack about McCain like that, then maybe Mark Levin would be pounding his fist on the table and SCREAMING about a lack of respect for our military, blah, blah, blah, blah.
    But when it was Trump saying that about McCain last summer….uh, not so much.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  231. Gee Beldar, why don’t you just come right and say it. Trump is a prime specimen of your average New York A@#hole. Trump is always selling whatever line of shinola he has in inventory. I’m not a Trump fan–but then I’m not a fan of any of the other candidates in either party.

    I’ve had extended discussions with a couple of my former law partners who are respectively fans of Bernie and of Hillary. I do think they fear Cruz most of all. He’s disciplined, he stays on message, he believes what he believes, and he’s willing to spit in the faces of his fellow Senators.

    OTOH while they agree with my view that Trump is just another New York jerk, they think that, if elected, Trump will drop some of the bluster, and start to make deals–because that’s what he does.

    Of course the problem is that dealmaker Trump might make a deal with Vladimir Putin and sell Alaska back to Russia. In that case Sarah Palin could not only see Russia from her front yard, she’d actually be in Russia!

    Comanche Voter (1d5c8b)

  232. He went to two different colleges, Fordham University and the University of Pennsylvania, ranked, respectively, #66 and #9 in the USN&WR listings and #1 on no one’s. But eh … such a small exaggeration … That’s probably the smallest lie Donald Trump has told all day.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  233. Cruz mentioned a video of Trump supporting the Libya war. He said it was on his website. Does anyone have a link?

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  234. Cruz website:Trump Says Removing Qaddafi Was Mistake, But Pushed For Libya Intervention In 2011.” It links to Buzzfeed, which posted an article with that title and a video on January 19, 2016.

    DRJ (15874d)

  235. Here is a link to the Buzzfeed article.

    DRJ (15874d)

  236. Good comment, Comanche Voter.

    I do think they fear Cruz most of all. He’s disciplined, he stays on message, he believes what he believes, and he’s willing to spit in the faces of his fellow Senators.

    He is everything that Trump isn’t. It would never occur to him that being disciplined, staying on message and actually believing in some fundamental truth is necessary and in a man, and especially one who wants to become the next president.

    Dana (86e864)

  237. yes, it was an ambush, and that was why they lay in wait,

    http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/ken-shepherd/2016/02/25/telemundos-arraras-suggests-latino-community-displeased-cruz-rubio

    but do they listen to zathras, no,

    narciso (732bc0)

  238. This is just so bizarre. Trump also complained in the post-debate interview on CNN that he’s getting audited so often “maybe because I’m a strong Christian.”

    Two Corinthians walk into a bar, and one says …

    Beldar (fa637a)

  239. He says he’s gonna add another ten feet to the wall that Mexico is going to pay for. But he can’t manage to get a two-foot stack of paper photocopied.

    (As if it’s not already digitized; as if it couldn’t be burned to a CD is less time than it takes me to type this.)

    Beldar (fa637a)

  240. I still want to know who is dying in the streets.

    Dana (86e864)

  241. Does anyone here doubt now that there are bombshells in the tax returns?

    Is anyone willing to self-identify as that gullible?

    Beldar (fa637a)

  242. To Cruz:

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  243. Dana (#240), every time Trump says that “dying in the streets” line, I flash to the beginning of Tom Wolfe’s “Bonfire of the Vanities” (great book, insipid movie), in which one of the “Masters of the Universe,” Wall Street bond trader Sherman McCoy and his mistress get lost driving his luxury car back from the airport; they end up in the Bronx, and the mistress then commits a hit-and-run, which Sherman covers up.

    Maybe Trump’s just flashing back to personal experiences with his own limo, I don’t know.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  244. According to the Drudge Poll, Trump won the debate with 98.7% of the vote. (LOL)
    And 103.2% of Trump supporters believe he won.
    Amazingly, 83% of Hillary’s supporters have switched over to Trump during the last couple of hours.
    This is all so great and fantastic and terrific.
    …it’s also unbelievable—in every sense of the word.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  245. that’s typical of most democratic led debates, I would say it’s dejavu all over again, but that would be redundant,

    narciso (732bc0)

  246. in an administration, that it is on instant replay about the crusades, and forces the sisters of mercy under it’s heel, and considering what happened to doctor carson or christine o’donnell, do I need to draw you a picture?

    narciso (732bc0)

  247. It’s a classic, Beldar. Who knows, maybe Tom Wolfe knew Trump back in the day…

    Dana (86e864)

  248. I am hopeful that our friend ropelight, and others here who like Trump, were rattled by what they saw tonight. Enough so that they actually start to re-think their support.

    Dana (86e864)

  249. narciso, I’m trying hard, but I’m missing your point, if you have one.

    How do you think Trump did? Do you agree that he’s justified in withholding his taxes, for example?

    Beldar (fa637a)

  250. 241Does anyone here doubt now that there are bombshells in the tax returns?
    Is anyone willing to self-identify as that gullible?

    Sure, but we probably have different definitions of a bombshell. You expecting Trump’s returns to reveal that he has scrupulously paid every cent he owed? That would be a bombshell. That he took very aggressive tax positions and sometimes had to pay penalties as a result? Not so much.

    I suppose his returns might also tend to indicate that he isn’t as rich as he claims. Is that what you are thinking of?

    James B. Shearer (0f56fb)

  251. #253 Mr Pink wrote,
    I have no words
    ————————

    I agree with you on that point. (LOL)

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  252. Mr. Pink drinks his own urine.

    nk (dbc370)

  253. (a) I was saddened to see that President Bush is now so infirm that he can’t stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I wish him well.

    (b) I really share the sense of exasperation and incredulity which kept racing across Sen. Rubio’s face.

    (c) That said, I think Sen. Rubio lost almost all of his interchanges with Mr. Trump; he came across, to me at least, as being both incredulous and powerless. Not a good combination.

    (d) I was very, very, very impressed with Sen. Cruz. I do not like his policies – but he’s clearly the most *competent* man on the stage right now.

    aphrael (3f0569)

  254. Excuse me, his tax returns.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  255. aphrael, that’s kind of an interesting take. Much of the “post game” chatter that I’ve seen has been that Rubio threw some nice haymakers at Trump. Trump lied his way through every interchange, it seems. Prior to the internet age, a candidate could stand on the debate stage and tell lies, and it might not be until the next or so until the fact-checkers caught up with them. And then that might get reported, but a good percentage of the debate viewers may not ever hear the ensuing ‘fact checks.’

    But tonight, in that one particular interchange, Rubio said—and I paraphrase—“People at home can Google ‘Trump and Polish workers and a million dollars’ right now as we speak.”

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  256. Rubio made Donnie look like a clown.

    jb (8a9f1d)

  257. I thought both Hewitt & Bash were pretty good. Bash was sly in her follow-up with Trump on healthcare. Hewitt was just incredibly straightforward, though — a big hanging pitch over the center of the plate. Strangely, it was Hewitt that seemed to get Trump’s goat, though.

    I’d hate to be Wolf Blitzer’s dog when Wolf gets home tonight. “Master!?! Why are you kicking me?”

    Maria Celeste Arraras’ questioning of Rubio, including the repetition of his own words in Spanish, was extremely deft. She went off the rails, though, when she spoke for about a minute to “set the record straight” about Trump’s Latino support or lack thereof, without asking a question. Pro tip: Any time the moderator says something like “For the record,” he or she is off the rails and out of bounds.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  258. Yeah, I haven’t seen the post-game chatter. My takeaway was that Cruz’s attacks against Trump worked much better than Rubio’s. Rubio was *right* in his attacks – but that didn’t matter.

    aphrael (3f0569)

  259. A big THANK YOU to all who pointed me at the video I asked about, regarding Trump being for the Libya war.

    Yep, he was. He was also worried about Kadaffi massacring the rebels. Those rebels were mostly Islamist, so I find those concerns misguided at best. I don’t approve of Trump’s stance on the issue. I’m not inclined to give anyone who fell in line with Hillary Clinton on this issue a pass.

    However, in fairness, it’s also possible that Trump just had no idea what he was talking about; at that time, you weren’t hearing in the media, at all, that the rebels were Islamist, and Trump had no access to intel reports. Still, he said what he said.

    But, on the Libya war, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that someone who clearly did have access to the information due to being on the Senate Foreign Relations committee, did publicly back the war, and sent a letter to the senate majority and minority leaders calling for support for launching the war. Here it is, from Rubio’s senate website;
    http://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=6e2704bf-b318-4ea4-a74d-3added704679

    I was aware of Rubio’s support for this war long before the debate, but thanks to Cruz (and the people here who gave me links), tonight I learned of Trump’s support for it too.

    I do consider Rubio’s actions worse due to his position and access at the time, but I’m not happy with either one of them on this issue, or how they handled it at the debate.

    Arizona CJ (da673d)

  260. I was very happy to see the looming Puerto Rico default get some air time, too.

    aphrael (3f0569)

  261. > Trump is a prime specimen of your average New York A@#hole

    Oddly, I lived in NYC for four years and never met this caricature.

    aphrael (3f0569)

  262. @ aphael: It’s impossible for me not to assess Cruz through the lens of my profession. Many people disagree with Cruz on the merits of issues; many find him personally off-putting. But everyone surely appreciates now why he was in such incredible demand as an appellate advocate when he left the Texas Solicitor General’s office to return to the private practice of law.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  263. Beldar: I disagree with him on the merits of many issues. But *as a lawyer* I am impressed with his skills, and I can totally see why he was in high demand as an advocate.

    I don’t want him as my President, and wouldn’t want him as my Senator – but I’d hire him to argue my case and think he’s clearly qualified to be a federal judge.

    aphrael (3f0569)

  264. From 7/1/09-6/30/10, the homeless in NYC died in the following places:

    * 45% died in a hospital
    * 24% died outdoors
    * 18% died in other places

    NOTE: I know this doesn’t add up to 100%. Looking at reports for other time periods, I think the remainder of the homeless deaths occurred in homeless shelters.

    “Outdoors” includes:

    Sidewalk/Street
    Expressway
    Outside of Building Entrance
    Park Area
    Encampment
    Vehicle
    Vacant Lot
    Bank/Shore of in Body of Water
    Construction Site
    Roof of Building

    “Other places” includes:

    Friend or Family Member’s Apartment
    Subway Car/ Subway Platform/Train Station
    Abandoned Building
    Public Space in a Building
    Motel/Hotel room
    Drop-in Center
    Building Vestibule
    Place of Employment
    Storage Facility

    Thus, 24% of homeless deaths in NYC during that time period occurred outdoors, and a portion of an additional 18% of homeless deaths occurred in public places. I think it’s fair to say many died “on the streets,” but I don’t think it was because of the healthcare system.

    DRJ (15874d)

  265. Being from New York is nowhere on my list of things I hate about Trump.

    I’m a fourth generation Texan and have lived here my whole life, with the exception of a summer spent in Manhattan in 1980. But in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I was a partner in the Houston office of a New York-based law firm, so almost all of my partners were New Yorkers and I spent a lot more time there. Even among New York law firms, my partners were considered to be abrasive and sharp-elbowed — although the firm was, is, and deserves to be highly respected too. But I enjoyed most of my interactions with ordinary New Yorkers, with the firm’s associates and office staff, and even with most of my partners. There were indeed very large cultural differences between our Texas offices and the home office in midtown. But New York has no monopoly on jerks or blow-hards, and Texas has no shortage.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  266. I resent that comment, Beldar. Texas has more of everything, including jerks and blow-hards.

    DRJ (15874d)

  267. yes, because this settles the issue:

    http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/harry-reid-mitt-romney-taxes-219780#ixzz41FffDSkY

    of course if someone was to examine Clean Face’s records going back to the 70s, well thats a fish of another kettle,

    narciso (732bc0)

  268. @ DRJ (#268): Interesting stats. I agree that none of those death, indoor or outdoor, was because someone was being refused critical lifesaving healthcare by a hospital or emergency room. You can literally “die in the street” from a completely unexpected and unpreventable condition; the only way Trump’s comment makes sense is if he believes — falsely — that ERs are turning away indigents who die as an immediate result.

    He lives in a cocoon. To him, “the streets” is everything outside the cocoon, and he’s just guessing about what goes on in all the rest of America. He’s shockingly poorly informed.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  269. Now, DRJ, you’re just thinking of your last trip to Dallas.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  270. In addition to complying with federally mandated health care for the needy, New York City has a number of private religious and secular organizations whose mission is to provide health care for the homeless.

    DRJ (15874d)

  271. 273.Now, DRJ, you’re just thinking of your last trip to Dallas

    Heh. That is so true.

    DRJ (15874d)

  272. DRJ –

    I have a story. It might run long.

    Jared and I were going to dinner one night, with a friend who was in from out of town. It was February. It was COLD. *I* was cold, and I’m never cold.

    We took the subway up to 215th St, in Inwood (one of our favorite restaurants, which we wanted to share with our friend, is on 218th). As we were walking up Broadway from the subway, we ran across a man, lying in the middle of the sidewalk.

    Have I mentioned it was cold?

    The man was not coherent. He was responsive, in a sense, but he was not coherently responsive.

    We called 911.

    And then we waited with him until 911 arrived. Eventually we managed to move him over against a wall where he could sit up instead of lying down – but he was not capable of walking unassisted, and he was really marginally coherent at best.

    A security guard wandered out to check on us. He told us he’d tried to talk to the guy earlier (but hadn’t called 911) and went on a rant, for a while, about how 911 takes forever to arrive in that part of town.

    Which turned out to be true; it took like 30 minutes. To come check on a man found lying on the concrete at 7pm at night in 20 degree weather.

    Eventually they showed up, took our statements, and shooed us away.

    I have no idea what happened to him after. Did he live? Did he die? Was it (as we suspected) some horrible drug interaction?

    I’ll never know.

    aphrael (3f0569)

  273. BTW, as the father of four University of Houston students, three of whom now have their undergraduate degrees from there, and one of whom also earned his law degree there (and finished, hopefully successfully, the Texas Bar Exam this very day), I was pleased to see how beautiful the venue appeared tonight.

    UH is still celebrating being named as a “Tier One University,” and it’s an up-and-coming place even in a collapsing higher education market. And the campus is turning into a gem — still not as stately as Rice University (where Cruz’ mother got her degree), but unrecognizable compared to what it was even fifteen years ago.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  274. 136 This debate will drive Kasich’s numbers in Texas below 1% if he weren’t already there.

    According to 538 Kasich is currently polling about 6% in Texas. Seems unlikely he will end up below 1%.

    James B. Shearer (0f56fb)

  275. Beldar: congratulations and best wishes to your son! I hope he is resting and celebrating tonight. 🙂

    aphrael (3f0569)

  276. Congratulations to UH, your kids and to you, Beldar. And a special “well done” to your bar exam kid. At our house, we still talk about when we took the bar exam. It’s something you always remember.

    DRJ (15874d)

  277. God bless you for taking care of that man, aphrael.

    DRJ (15874d)

  278. Thanks, but that’s not why I did it, or why I told the story. 🙂 My point is – in a city of 8 million people, wierd stuff happens *all the time*. And sooner or later everyone interacts with it in some way – at which time you do the best you can and hope the system works when you invoke it.

    aphrael (3f0569)

  279. > we still talk about when we took the bar exam. It’s something you always remember.

    I have vivid memories of all three of them. Although the NY memories are fading; it wasn’t as big a deal, somehow, as CA and NJ were.

    aphrael (3f0569)

  280. Ditto what DRJ wrote, and thanks for sharing the story, aphael, and thank you both for the nice words about my kiddos. Would either of you — would anyone? — be surprised if I told you that all four of them are extremely argumentative?

    They get it from their mom.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  281. congratulations, beldar,

    narciso (732bc0)

  282. Thank you, narciso.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  283. Patterico (86c8ed)

  284. aphrael,

    First, weird stuff probably does happen all the time, but that makes it even more admirable that you stopped and did something.

    Second, I listed the homeless death statistics because my assumption is that most deaths “on the street” would be homeless deaths. Do you think that is right, or am I missing something?

    DRJ (15874d)

  285. It was only the 2011 returns that Romney released in September.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  286. yesterday, all the spanish papers, noted the background of the jayvee franchiseem

    http://www.lavozdigital.es/internacional/abci-jihadi-john-busco-financiacion-lisboa-2011-201602251557_noticia.html

    today they discover mr, emwazi, was hanging around lisbon back in 2011, with some of these ‘innocent’ fmr detainees, names left out, looking for fundingm

    narciso (732bc0)

  287. I thought both Hewitt & Bash were pretty good.

    You know how some people just annoy the (*&^&(* out of you?

    For me, that’s Dana Bash.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  288. Yeah, but she was killing Trump with fairness: “Is there anything more you want to add regarding your health care plan, besides the point about state lines?” That’s my paraphrase, not a direct quote. But it was sly, because the subtext obvious to everyone except Trump and his zombie spawn was, “Can’t you come up with anything better than that?” And of course, it just got him to repeat himself again about drawing circles around the states.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  289. IIRC correctly from 2012 — and someone here may have a better recollection — what hurt Romney from his tax returns was that, because of the combination of capital gains treatment and magnificent charitable deductions, his blended effective tax rate (or some such calculation) was lower than the average Americans.

    Now, that was a successful example of Democrats lying with statistics, but the optics were very bad for low information or financially unsophisticated voters.

    That’s also surely one of many possible concerns about Trump’s returns. Exactly to the extent that he’s been effective in lowering his taxes by aggressively claiming shelters and benefits, he’s also going to become Bernie Sanders’ wet dream and new pinata.

    (Sorry, that’s a dreadful mixed metaphor, but it’s late and I’m still profoundly amused by this evening’s events.)

    But otherwise, Romney’s returns were squeaky, IIRC; for all his hard-nosed pragmatism as a venture capitalist, Romney never tried to play hardball with the government over his taxes. And I doubt that’s the case with Trump’s tax returns; given his career-long reputation for re-trading every deal, negotiating in bad faith, suing at the drop of a hat, flushing out billions in debt through repeated corporate bankruptcies, etc., I’d be pretty surprised if he was anywhere but on the very cutting edge of what’s legal, and perhaps on some occasions well across that edge (which would mean penalties, perhaps fines). I expect it won’t just be the effective rate he ended up paying that the Dems would use in the general election to bludgeon him with. It would also likely be the particularly unsavory character of the means he used to achieve that sweet effective rate, which we know must include considerable foreign transactions, offshore investment companies, trusts and shells and foundations, etc.

    Ted Cruz wants to abolish the IRS. Thereafter, even Donald Trump’s personal income tax return can be filed on a single sheet of paper. Because the rules then will be so simple and the rate table so flat, tycoons like Trump actually will be forced to operate in the sunlight, when we won’t have to wonder whether (or really, in Trump’s case, how) they’re ripping off the U.S. government and the rest of us taxpayers.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  290. He may also talk about charity more than he practices it.

    DRJ (15874d)

  291. 250. …I suppose his returns might also tend to indicate that he isn’t as rich as he claims. Is that what you are thinking of?

    James B. Shearer (0f56fb) — 2/25/2016 @ 9:38 pm

    Trump sued a NYT reporter for defamation for writing he was nowhere near as rich as he claims.

    http://www.nationalreview.com/article/431915/donald-trump-worth-tax-returns-mitt-romney

    All Trump had to do to win the case was produce a few tax returns. Instead, Trump dragged out discovery by refusing to comply, then providing tax returns that were so extensively redacted the court determined they were worthless. Consequently he lost the case. Then Trump appealed, and lost on appeal.

    The appeals court concluded there was no reason to believe that the reporter was being dishonest. The court noted that the reporter’s article was well sourced. His attorney’s produced documents showing that when Deutsche Bank loaned Trump money in 2005, based on disclosures Trump had to make to the bank they estimated Trump’s net worth was $788 million. Which is a lot of money, but nowhere near the $5 to $6 billion he was publicly boasting about being worth.

    On the other hand the court concluded that there was plenty of reason to believe Trump is a liar, and an unethical businessman to boot.

    No, I’m not exaggerating; read the article at the link.

    Trump is going to have to testify this spring and summer in a couple of lawsuits brought by victims of his fraudulent Trump “University.” He will have to testify about his actual net worth, and how much money he made by scamming people who believed him when he said they’d be learning his real estate investing secrets, that he helped design the curriculum, that he hand-picked the instructors, etc.

    None of what he said in the promotional materials, including video of the him saying these things, was anywhere close to true. I doubt the judges in these cases will let him get away with the same shenanigans he tried to pull in the O’Brien case. Where basically Trump insisted that court just take his word that he’s a multi-billionaire, when the reporter had documents and contemporaneous notes proving that he’s not.

    The New Jersey court didn’t take his word. Here actual damages are involved. He’s already been forced to admit under oath that he lied in the promotional materials for this fraud. So, a few short months before the election it appears he’ll be forced to come clean and admit he’s not worth what he claims.

    Steve57 (b12073)

  292. Trump couldn’t stop himself from stroking his ego on Twitter. He said he won the online polls. Heh.

    DRJ (15874d)

  293. After tonight, and the realization that he is very likely to take more devastating Cruz missiles, what are the odds DT simply decides he will not make any joint appearances, of any kind, with any opponents, until after he is nominated?

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  294. Beldar 290,

    You are right about Trump’s complex tax return. He actually posted a photo of him signing a recent tax return. It shows paper stacked several feet high.

    DRJ (15874d)

  295. Pretty good, Ed, unless he thinks it will hurt him the way it did in Iowa.

    DRJ (15874d)

  296. Rubio is fun to watch and he makes good points, but what’s best about him is his smile. It seems genuine which makes him easy to like.

    DRJ (15874d)

  297. @ DRJ (#295), yup, I’d seen that photo, and it’s not surprising at all that his returns are that bulky.

    That would be somewhere near the median-sized document production in my solo civil litigation practice — an easy Bates-numbering job. Duplicating and distributing something that size is child’s play, there’s certainly no technical impediment to putting that entire stack online within hours.

    How many eager young Democrat tax attorneys and CPAs do you think would donate time to Bernie Sanders, or even Hillary, to go through every single page looking for something that could be used to embarrass Trump?

    To the best of my knowledge, no one’s yet reported comprehensively all the embarrassing stuff that’s online on PACER in his four waves of corporate bankruptcies. In the consolidated case file on his 2004 bankruptcy alone, there are 2059 separate documents, many of which have dozens or hundreds of exhibits and run to hundreds of pages. Document 89, for example, is a 1904-page list of unsecured creditors, with approximately a dozen such names and addresses on every page. Every one of those names is someone who got less than a penny on the dollar after trusting Donald Trump’s promises on behalf of the companies bearing his name.

    But do you doubt that there are volunteer opposition researchers who’ve already been working their way through those filings on behalf of Sanders, Clinton, and/or the DNC? As the intelligence professionals said of Hillary’s server, it’s inconceivable that resource wouldn’t be plumbed and sifted by every remotely professional opposition.

    I’m hoping that someone from the Cruz campaign is doing that right now, but it’s a daunting task, and it would be very hard to crowd-source.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  298. 290.IIRC correctly from 2012 — and someone here may have a better recollection — what hurt Romney from his tax returns was that, because of the combination of capital gains treatment and magnificent charitable deductions, his blended effective tax rate (or some such calculation) was lower than the average Americans.

    Several things hurt Romney. He initially resisted releasing his returns and then caved in. When he did release them his tax rate turned out to be so embarrassingly low he felt compelled to claim he would voluntarily raise his taxes paid by refusing to take some deductions he was legally entitled to. The whole thing made him look like an idiot, he had been running for President for years, he should known he would be pressured to release his returns and arranged his affairs in such a way that he wasn’t ashamed of them.

    HRC has a similar problem with her Goldman Sachs speeches, she should have known they would be a campaign liability and not given them.

    James B. Shearer (0f56fb)

  299. 290Ted Cruz wants to abolish the IRS. Thereafter, even Donald Trump’s personal income tax return can be filed on a single sheet of paper. Because the rules then will be so simple and the rate table so flat, tycoons like Trump actually will be forced to operate in the sunlight, when we won’t have to wonder whether (or really, in Trump’s case, how) they’re ripping off the U.S. government and the rest of us taxpayers.

    You guys complain about Trump’s plans being fantasies and then you promote things like this.

    James B. Shearer (0f56fb)

  300. @232 “He [Trump] went to two different colleges, Fordham University and the University of Pennsylvania, ranked, respectively, #66 and #9 in the USN&WR listings and #1 on no one’s. But eh … such a small exaggeration … That’s probably the smallest lie Donald Trump has told all day.”

    Trump attended those schools long before USN&WR began compiling and publishing rankings: “In 1983, U.S. News & World Report published its first “America’s Best Colleges” report. The rankings have been compiled and published annually since 1985 and are the most widely quoted of their kind in the United States.” Hit the showers, bub.

    DCSCA (a343d5)

  301. I can’t understand the Mexican lady. Is there a 1 to push for English.

    mg (31009b) — 2/25/2016 @ 6:17 pm

    You have no idea how much I needed that laugh.

    Bill H (dcdd7b)

  302. You guys complain about Trump’s plans being fantasies and then you promote things like this.

    James B. Shearer (0f56fb) — 2/26/2016 @ 12:40 am

    No, what we complain about is his lack of detail or vision. All Trump does is yell “Make America Great Again” as though it’s some talisman that protects him from scrutiny. Sorry James, but it doesn’t. I want plans, I want details. This man is running for the most powerful office in the world, and all we get is threats of lawsuits, bullying, name calling and when that doesn’t work for him, he runs away. Why that’s an attractive package for Trumpeters, I have no idea. We aren’t selecting a playground captain. We are selecting the leader of the free world. We’ve already had 7+ years of thin skinned, vindictive, childish, petulant narcissism. I don’t need another 4.

    Bill H (dcdd7b)

  303. I remember in very early 1981 when the notion of firing all of the striking air traffic controllers in PATCO was considered a fantasy, something that was politically impossible, something that was wholly impracticable, something that only a madman would contemplate.

    Then Ronald Reagan did it.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  304. Put another way: Mandate elections create consequential presidencies in which big things can get done. See, e.g., LBJ in 1964 (Great Society, civil rights laws); Nixon in 1972 (opened relations with Red China, ended U.S. participation in Vietnam); Reagan in 1980 (too many to list); Obama (Obamacare, 2009 stimulus, Dodd-Frank).

    We need big things on an even larger scale than Reagan managed. We must have entitlement reform. We have to undo the damage of Obamacare. We’ve got to do a near 180-degree reversal on foreign affairs and defense policy. And we must dispel the near-certainty in the entire American public, left and right, that Washington is a rigged game where it’s only the crony capitalists and powerful special interests that are ever permitted to get ahead.

    And that’s a short and incomplete list of the bare minimum that has to get fixed by the accomplishment of big things.

    There’s a new Speaker of the House who, by universal acknowledgement on both sides of the aisle, is wonky enough to actually craft legislation to do big things on this very scale. The Senate is likely to remain problematic, and might flip, however. So we absolutely have to have a mandate president who has the political capital to do big things — like abolishing the IRS.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  305. Congrats to you and your family, Beldar.
    I wish the public would hear what Ted says.

    mg (31009b)

  306. I’m on east coast this week Mr. Beldar had to konk out early

    that debate had too many poopers I thought and why do we have to keep hearing about a rancid trifling ghettostate like north effing korea

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  307. Where on the east coast?

    mg (31009b)

  308. Not having cable or satellite I haven’t had the pleasure of hearing a word in debate.

    DNF (ffe548)

  309. i’m in manhattan kinda the southwest side

    not a good trip really

    productive but with fatigue and bad weather I didn’t do very much at all – tried a few new restaurants and saw a friend at a place in chinatown we’ve been going to for over ten years is pretty much it

    I do a quasi-vacation next week and I’ll have to work this weekend to finish up some projects for to make that happen so I can’t be tired when i get back to chicago

    good lord i sound like a grown-up

    about the debate though

    i was surprised Mr. The Donald didn’t feel like he needed/wanted to get his two cents in about apple

    i think his stand on that is particularly odious and it was nice not to have to hear it again

    i wonder if he got some feedback from internal pollings

    happyfeet (8e2eaf)

  310. Cruz showed that he was above the drama…. Yes he got caught in the middle But Cruz was the only Presidential candidate on the stage
    Cruz will win Texas. Cruz will beat Hillary in November….
    And on day one in Jan 2017, Cruz will remove every executive Law forced by BO

    jrt for Cruz (bc7456)

  311. Vermin Supreme would look presidential next to Trump. Not to take anything away from Cruz — he does deport himself like a President should.

    nk (dbc370)

  312. 302No, what we complain about is his lack of detail or vision. All Trump does is yell “Make America Great Again” as though it’s some talisman that protects him from scrutiny. Sorry James, but it doesn’t. I want plans, I want details. …

    So where are the details for Cruz’s plan to abolish the IRS and simplify the tax system so everybody’s returns can be filed on a single sheet of paper? Do you think this realistic?

    James B. Shearer (0f56fb)

  313. 311.Vermin Supreme would look presidential next to Trump. Not to take anything away from Cruz — he does deport himself like a President should.

    ……………………………………
    BUT Cruz was visibly uncomfortable going over to the dark side which was Trump and Rubio…I think Rubio is even more street smart to the dark side than Trump……

    Cruz went there but was not happy to go there….. And That is exactly Why Cruz should be trusteed

    CRUZ IS A STRANGER TO CORRUPTION AND deception…….. Trump and Rubio are intimate with the dark side….

    jrt for Cruz (bc7456)

  314. Beldar, thank you for your posts. And congratulations to your family!

    Simon Jester (2118e4)

  315. Here’s the Drudge poll results:

    TRUMP 56.61% (230,904 votes)

    CRUZ 20.15% (82,175 votes)

    RUBIO 16.06% (65,506 votes)

    KASICH 4.54% (18,497 votes)

    CARSON 2.64% (10,782 votes)

    Total Votes: 407,864

    ropelight (24b805)

  316. That seems overwrought, jfc

    narciso (732bc0)

  317. I wonder how many of Drudge’s readers are tripping over their Phi Beta Kappa keys all the time.

    nk (dbc370)

  318. Well, narciso, there was that star over Calgary and the three guys who came to the maternity ward with gold, frankincense and myrrh.

    nk (dbc370)

  319. The Drudge Report polls appeal to Republicans and they show voter passion and intensity. That is important and Trump wins that metric easily. However, Drudge did one poll that included Democratic candidates, and look who the Drudge fans had coming in second:

    **DRUDGE SUPER POLL** WHO IS YOUR PICK FOR PRESIDENT? (Poll Closed)

    TRUMP 36.05%  (413,399 votes) 

     

    SANDERS 29.69%  (340,387 votes) 

     

    CRUZ 19.23%  (220,501 votes) 

     

    RUBIO 4.92%  (56,444 votes) 

     

    PAUL 3.23%  (37,030 votes) 

     

    CARSON 1.42%  (16,232 votes) 

     

    KASICH 1.32%  (15,183 votes) 

     

    FIORINA 1.02%  (11,689 votes) 

     

    CHRISTIE 1.02%  (11,641 votes) 

     

    BUSH 0.9%  (10,305 votes)

     

    CLINTON 0.88%  (10,096 votes)

    SANTORUM 0.2% (2,294 votes) 

    O’MALLEY 0.12%  (1,408 votes)

    Not the preferred Drudge/Trump narrative, is it?

    Democrats changed their Party rules to keep the Bernie-and-Trump-style candidates away from power. The GOP will probably do the same and, if Trump is President, he will embrace the changes because that’s what incumbents do.

    DRJ (15874d)

  320. Vermin Supreme… Vermin Supreme… why does that sound so familiar? Say… didn’t John Coltrane create some music with that title?

    Colonel Haiku (af9684)

  321. ONLY TRUMP SUPPORTERS FO TO DRUGE TO VOTE!!!! All Cruz voters don’t touch the site….

    I haven’t been there In years

    jrt for Cruz (bc7456)

  322. Didn’t watch the debate, but I saw about 15 minutes of highlights. (Full disclosure: they were compiled by anti-Trump conservatives (but I repeat myself), so there may be some bias.)

    Rubio just killed it. Solid A. Happy Warrior(tm). That smile while attacking!

    Cruz gets a solid B+. Took him until the second half to get going, sadly. He doesn’t have that “looks like he’s having fun” factor. He’s earnest and would be a great President, but he’s not having fun. (Shades of Fred “F*ck This Campaigning S*it” Thompson a few years back.)

    Trump: How are we losing to this La-hoo-ha-ser? F.

    Others: What, there were others there? (Points to Carson for the “could someone attack me?” line.)

    Mitch (bfd5cd)

  323. That Mexican lady, she no fool nobody… http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2016/02/what-is-telemundo-running-for.php

    Colonel Haiku (af9684)

  324. Cruz supporters don’t use Drudge….. The Poll is closed at 9am EST

    That poll is so skewed for Trump!

    jrt for Cruz (bc7456)

  325. 323.Didn’t watch the debate, but I saw about 15 minutes of highlights. (Full disclosure: they were compiled by anti-Trump conservatives (but I repeat myself), so there may be some bias.)

    Rubio just killed it. Solid A. Happy Warrior(tm). That smile while attacking!

    Cruz gets a solid B+. Took him until the second half to get going, sadly. He doesn’t have that “looks like he’s having fun” factor. He’s earnest and would be a great President, but he’s not having fun. (Shades of Fred “F*ck This Campaigning S*it” Thompson a few years back.)

    Trump: How are we losing to this La-hoo-ha-ser? F.

    Others: What, there were others there? (Points to Carson for the “could someone attack me?” line.)
    Mitch
    …………………………

    NO Mitch…. Rubio didn’t kill anything but his bottle of hair gel last night…..

    Rubio and Trump showed their asses…..Cruz tried to get in the mud but it ain’t his style….

    Kasich SPOKE WAY TOO MUCH ABOUT GARBAGE

    Carson begged to be heard but no one cared

    I WATCHED FROM BEGINNING TO END ….

    jrt for Cruz (bc7456)

  326. Cruz was the only presidential candidate running for the office of a conservative president…

    jrt for Cruz (bc7456)

  327. 324.That Mexican lady, she no fool nobody

    dont think she was Mexican but she looked exactly like Rachel Ray

    jrt for Cruz (bc7456)

  328. Picked up on my phone in Houston
    Everybody answered, everybody answered but they won’t say why
    Then this dancer grabbed me down by the bus stop
    And she said I’m takin’ you with me to the Texas Rose cafe
    I got a fast car, it’s a jaguar, and I’ll get you to the plane on time
    Drinkin’ Lone Star, play guitar, we’ll have a real good time
    I said love can be found in Austin,
    Love can be found in Austin town,
    I replied that I would try, but you see my time is not my own
    ‘Cause when I was just a big time low ball fool
    My friend Leroy came to me
    He said look out your window
    Does the first man you see look like me?
    I’m sooooore displeased

    Colonel Haiku (af9684)

  329. Didn’t I tell you some blame fool would quote that ignorant Drudge poll as if it were the Bible? And that blame fool did.

    Watching the Trump debating was like watching an Alpha Beta debating current events with a Hillsdale professor. Trump is so out of his league with ANYONE who can talk specifics. He’s just one great big vacuous sound bite.

    John Hitchcock (0997d2)

  330. “290Ted Cruz wants to abolish the IRS. Thereafter, even Donald Trump’s personal income tax return can be filed on a single sheet of paper. Because the rules then will be so simple and the rate table so flat, tycoons like Trump actually will be forced to operate in the sunlight, when we won’t have to wonder whether (or really, in Trump’s case, how) they’re ripping off the U.S. government and the rest of us taxpayers.

    You guys complain about Trump’s plans being fantasies and then you promote things like this.

    James B. Shearer”

    Exactly. So we’re going to dump one whole tax enforcement agency and then…create a new shiny happy agency?. That’s not really specific at all,it’s simply an applause line and not much more.

    Rubio showed himself again to be a sniveling soundbite jerk. And his MOM WAS A MAID AND HIS DAD WAS A BARTENDER.He needs to hide the puppet strings better.

    As to Trump’s various failings; someone doing that much business is going to break some eggs. And He got out of Atlantic Cit before it well completely to Hell. If he gets The One Big Thing correct, that might be enough.

    Bugg (db3a97)

  331. Oh no one East of I-55 will ever do
    Marco may be right, he may be fine
    He may get votes but he won’t get mine
    ‘Cos I got Cruz

    Oh, I, oh, I
    Well, I just can’t get enough of that Ted Cruz
    A Texan I can really get behind

    Oh my mama said the time would come
    When I could pick between Ted and Rubio
    I wouldn’t think, I wouldn’t dream
    To fill in anybody but Cruz

    Woah, I, oh, I
    Well, I just can’t get enough of that Ted Cruz
    A Texan I can really get behind

    nk (dbc370)

  332. 330.Didn’t I tell you some blame fool would quote that ignorant Drudge poll as if it were the Bible? And that blame fool did.

    Watching the Trump debating was like watching an Alpha Beta debating current events with a Hillsdale professor. Trump is so out of his league with ANYONE who can talk specifics. He’s just one great big vacuous sound bite.
    ………………………………..

    NOT GOOD FOR TRUMP IF CRUZ CAN PULL A 21% at Drudge….. No one uses that Hillary living site…

    jrt for Cruz (bc7456)

  333. If he gets The One Big Thing correct, that might be enough.

    Bugg (db3a97) — 2/26/2016 @ 7:06 am

    As I’ve known for some time, this is how the Trumpers’ minds work. The border is the only thing that matters. SCOTUS doesn’t matter. Making people buy health insurance doesn’t matter. Obama staffing the Justice Dept. with wall to wall leftists doesn’t matter. Having any idea what he’s talking about on a host of things like foreign policy doesn’t matter. Being a constant liar doesn’t matter etc.

    I’m convince the typical Trumper doesn’t even listen to most of what Trump says about what he plans to do. He fakes his way through most questions. He could say “blah blah blah” and it would sound normal to them.

    Gerald A (86f35d)

  334. I wont fault Trump in the audits. Shows he didn’t try to use his sister the judge to go above the law…. or did he?

    jrt for Cruz (bc7456)

  335. The most telling thing about last nights debates was that Ted Cruz is foreign/ visibly uncomfortable with corruption and lying/ going to the dark side to gain what he wants to achieve…. And that, Trump and Rubio live in the dark side of corruption to gain what they want to achieve.

    jrt for Cruz (bc7456)

  336. #339 JRT,

    That sounds like a synopsis of the script for the next ‘Star Wars’ film.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  337. Mr. Cruz is doing really well for his first run and nobody can ever take that away from him

    happyfeet (a037ad)

  338. 6. Deuce Frehley (73c323) — 2/25/2016 @ 5:33 pm

    A poli-sci prof at Stony Brook has an election model that correctly picked the winner of the last five Presidential elections. He says there’s a 97 percent chance The Donald will beat Hillary, and a 99 percent chance that he would beat Bernie.

    These things are fitted to the historical data, and they have the same problems as economic models, or climate models – they ae carefully designed to match the historical data. They fit the noise, and they work until they don’t work.

    There’s a formula that says no person will be successfully elected president (although he may win his party’s noomination) who was did not achieve a position from which someone might be considered prominent at least 2 years but not more than 14 years before a presidential election in which e is elected either president or vice president (being elected vice preseident tolls the clock, e.g. Nixon)

    The position that someone has to achieve at least two yeasr but no more than 14 years before being elected president or vice president is being elected Governor or Senator for the first time, or top general in a war, or being a member of the Cabinet.

    Abraham Lincoln is an exception, unless you also allow him to be a member of Congress, but then Lyndon Johnson was first elected to Congress in 1938, 22 years before he was elected vice president. Of course Lincoln’s non-election to the United States Senate in 1858 caused him maybe to be better known than most Senators.

    William Henry Harrison (he was a General and Governoer of Indianan territory back in around the War of 1812 and was elected in 1840) really is not an exception, because he was Senator from 1825 to 1828 and if 1825 = 1824, that’s only 2 years more. Of course those are the same extra years that Hillary Clinton has.

    Donald Trump has zero years as anything.

    Bernie Sanders is maybe within the formula, if you limit it to Senator.

    Cruz and Rubio are also within the rule, as is Kasich, if only being elected Governor counts, and not being in the House.

    Sammy Finkelman (7c7fb2)

  339. We’ll get the government we deserve, one way or the other.

    As to Trump’s various failings; someone doing that much business is going to break some eggs. And He got out of Atlantic Cit before it well completely to Hell. If he gets The One Big Thing correct, that might be enough.

    Bugg (db3a97)

    Didn’t Trump say that he hired foreign workers because they will do the jobs Americans don’t want to do? Doesn’t Trump have a history of hiring illegals?

    To me, actions speak louder than words. That’s why Trump’s fans mock Rubio’s quibbling words on amnesty, right?

    They are all politicians. Any of them could promise us anything and not mean it. Trump’s promises have been the biggest, but often they are reduced to a single adjective or at best one vague detail.

    One this One Big Thing, Trump has made some good promises, but done bad actions. And actions speak louder than words.

    Dustin (2a8be7)

  340. That sounds like a synopsis of the script for the next ‘Star Wars’ film.
    Cruz Supporter

    There were times when Cruz looked like he was physically repulsed by the depth of darkness displayed by the drama of that debate…. Yes he was forced to witness the dark side but he wasn’t going to allow it to suck him in….

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el5FEujGi50 here is Ted at his best…. one on one….

    jrt for Cruz (bc7456)

  341. 240. Dana (86e864) — 2/25/2016 @ 9:18 pm

    240.I still want to know who is dying in the streets.

    I don’t see how people miss this – and I also don’t see how Donald Trump does not have enough intelligence – or is it maybe guts? – to clarify this.

    People dying in the streets is allegedly what might happen in the case of a careless repeal of Obamacare. Of course EMTALA long ago prevented that. This way predates Obamacare.

    I also think that Donald Trump thought he was being asked about the mandate on the hospital deriving from EMTALA, with the individual mandate to purchase insurance that is part of Obamacare, which he maybe didn’t even realize existed, and now he won’t admit he was confused about what the word “mandate” in the question he was asked was referring to.

    It is a testament to Donald Trump’s own feelings about his ignorance that he doesn’t clarify what he meant by a mandate now preventing people from dying in the streets. It was the same thing with “triad” where he couldn’t admit that he didn’t know what that meant.

    Sammy Finkelman (7c7fb2)

  342. 241. Beldar (fa637a) — 2/25/2016 @ 9:19 pm

    Does anyone here doubt now that there are bombshells in the tax returns?

    Is anyone willing to self-identify as that gullible?

    There may not be bombshells. There may just be things taht Donald Trump thinks are bombshells.

    DOnald Trump actually has a perfectly good defense he could say. He could say that very rich people have avery high chance of being audited. It’s something like 80% above acertain level of incoem and so on. And that people on whose returns the IRS has made corrections tend to gte audited ear after year. And taht, yes, he pushe dthe envelope. And he could say he didn’t really mean for every one these things to be taken serriously – it was strategy – he knows the IRS agent has to find something, so he put things in, that stepped short of fraud, where he could concede. And then the IRS auditor would find say, an extra million dollars owed, and he’d have an easier time defending other things tahn iif he didn’t plant some things in the tax return for the auditor to win. And he could say he did that because he’s a good negotiator. I mean he could say something like that.

    But I’m sure there are things in his tax returns that he just doesn’t want to stand behind. Also, if a return is still being audited – he doesn’t want some newspaper or magazine columnist to give ideas to the IRS auditors.

    Sammy Finkelman (7c7fb2)

  343. Arizona CJ (da673d) — 2/25/2016 @ 9:57 pm

    Yep, he was. He was also worried about Kadaffi massacring the rebels. Those rebels were mostly Islamist, </blockquote. It wasn't soldiers whom everybody was afraid Quaddafi was going to massacre, and the rebels were not Islamist for the most part. The post quaddafi government did not chiefly consist of Islamicists.

    Sammy Finkelman (7c7fb2)

  344. Que.

    narciso (732bc0)

  345. ropelight (24b805) — 2/26/2016 @ 6:06 am

    Here’s the Drudge poll results:

    TRUMP 56.61% (230,904 votes)

    Since Trump doesn’t have any real ground game…

    Who’s doing that??

    And Trump doesn’t do any internal polling. So who’s telling him maybe what public opinion is about the Apple iPhone case?

    Sammy Finkelman (7c7fb2)

  346. Sadly, I have a lot to get done today so can’t hang around the way I did yesterday. But:

    DRJ, at 285: it was *cold*. his life was in danger. 🙁

    As for what Trump means by ‘dying in the streets’: asking me to *parse* his inane babbling is asking a lot. 🙂

    Your estimation strikes me as being a reasonable one.

    —–

    DRJ at 298: I agree that Rubio is easy to *like*. Where he’s failing for me is that he isn’t striking me as *effective*, which is a problem.

    Beldar, at 304: do you expect the Senate Democrats under Schumer to be more, or less, cooperative than the Senate Republicans were in 2009?

    aphrael (e0cdc9)

  347. aphrael, I don’t quite follow your question, I’m sorry. Are you speaking of cooperation on SCOTUS nominations, or something else? Does your question include an assumption one way or the other about whether the Dems re-take the Senate?

    In general, I don’t expect any cooperation from Schumer on anything substantive, except in the extraordinary rare situation where he defies his own party on a vote where his is not determinative (as with his position on the Iran deal). He’ll be a far better face for the Senate Dems than Harry Reid has been, and I deem him a formidable and therefore dangerous opponent. He’s politically gifted and unfettered by principle, but I can imagine myself having a beer with him, and that’s not true of Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  348. Beldar – Trump’s tax returns will have his charitable donations. Why do I expect they’ll be a mix of New York high-society minimally ideological donations (Museum of Modern Art, Central Park Zoo, etc. fundraisers) and liberal causes with all the conservative and pro-veterans causes he has claimed being nowhere to be found?

    Nick M. (63e1a7)

  349. Aphrael – Schumer has never been cooperative, except in re Israel. Why would that change?

    JD (33ee80)

  350. jrt for Cruz reminds me of blu.

    ropelight (4ea934)

  351. #346 Beldar,

    Nancy Pelosi might be fun to sit down and have a drink with. If you asked, “Say, Madame Speaker, what’s in this mixed drink, here?”
    She’d inevitably reply, “You have to drink it in order to find out what’s in it!” (LOL)

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.2081 secs.