February 24, 2016

Scott Adams explains his "Master Persuader" theory... which has Trump winning the presidency in a landslide.



I watched that with Meade, who found him hard to watch because he's so "sweaty." Oddly, "sweaty" is a word Adams uses in this clip, not about himself, but as he lists the distinctive insults Trump has successfully pinned on his opponents (like "low energy" and "that face").

AND: Here's Adams's new post, "How to Spot a Narcissist (Trump Persuasion Series)." It ends:
Narcissism is definitely a thing. But we also need a name for the mental condition in which you believe you are so smart you can diagnose narcissism from a distance.

I won’t call you a narcissist unless you state your opinion in a public comment forum and insult other voters and commenters as if you have no empathy. So don’t do that.

89 comments:

Expat(ish) said...

I missed the part where a cartoonist, as a trained engineer, is a political science wonder?

Next up, Herblock explains the middle east?

Charles Addams provides SC commentary?

-XC

David said...

Trump is creative.

Isn't this the era of the creatives?

David said...

Herblock?

Man this is a blog for the oldies.

Anonymous said...

Canada is offering an island for American refugees of the impending Trump Regime.

Limited blogger said...

I didn't realize Adams was Dilbert! Are there any pictures of him in a short sleeved white shirt, with badly rumpled tie?

Meade said...

It true — the person who continually calls other people narcissist frequently himself has a corrupted narcissism.

tim maguire said...

Expatish, he's also a trained hypnotist. But if you've been reading this blog (or almost any right-of-center blog) you know Scott Adams has been the only one successfully analyzing Trump's candidacy. And he's been doing it since last summer.

That's gotta be worth more than any credential from a liberal arts college.

Meade said...

"Canada is offering an island for American refugees of the impending Trump Regime."

To Hillary:
Go [there] now, [Canada] calls you, you can’t refuse
When you [get subpoenaed, you'll have] nothing to lose
You’re invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal

Curious George said...

"Amanda said...
Canada is offering an island for American refugees of the impending Trump Regime."

Sadly, you fucks won't leave. All talk.

Dan said...

Adams is a very bright guy... I've been following him since he was stricken with spasmodic dysphonia about a decade ago... he was able to cure himself of it through poetry, which is pretty rare as most people, even through drastic surgery, never speak properly again... his background is similar to Trump's. Always an interesting read.

Laslo Spatula said...

Not much has changed on how the critics portray Trump, even as events change: Trump is Trump. Adams has covered this in detail in his posts.

From Laslo November: How the Hacks see Trump.

I am Laslo.

Earnest Prole said...

Scott Adams's theory is persuasive if you ignore this. In theory there is no difference between theory and practice.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

So I decided to do a little internet research before drafting my comment. How much of a cliché is it to say that satirists are in the business of puncturing balloons?

So I'm typing that into Bing! and it recommends "satirist once dubbed will rogers with fangs." Well, who the hell wouldn't click on that? So I did.

Turns out it's a clue for a crossword puzzle.

Mort Sahl.

David Begley said...

What if Adams is wrong and the polls are right? Hillary wins.

Adams graduated from Hartwick College and has an MBA from Berkley. He worked in banking. Not an engineer but he knows software. Smart guy, but I'm not ready to abandon all the polls especially knowing that the dirt on Donald isn't out. #ownpersonalVietnam

rehajm said...

Amanda said...
Canada is offering an island for American refugees of the impending Trump Regime.


Why does the left thinks Canada would have them? With $30 oil Canada has its own problems and doesn't need a wave of refugees with expensive tastes in government largesse.

fivewheels said...

I don't understand the urge to put Adams down because of his occupation. What makes him any less qualified to comment on the national scene than, say, a law professor, a community organizer, or a literally unbelievably lucky cattle futures trader?

His job is being clever, and he's above average at it. Some of what he's doing seems to be shtick, but I'm listening.

traditionalguy said...

What a fun day. Adams is himself an engineer in realist communication, so he highly admires Trump. And like Trump Adams will say anything that he believes to be real. Nobody wants an engineer who only builds mythical buildings and bridges to no where.

So the cute Adams takes a shot at the misuse of the Narcissist term as a sort of bad thing that braggarts do. The essence of a Narcissist is seen in Obama's need to control everybody to build an alternate reality around himself servicing his image. The Narcissist does anything to totally control how others see him... or else he destroys them. It is the heart of evil in men.

The good hearted Trump just has a good time and calls for a reality that includes good self images for everybody, thus exposing real Narcissists as the irrelevant evil men that they are.

tim in vermont said...

Canada is offering an island for American refugees of the impending Trump Regime

A, I thought all you guys left when W got elected. What does it take to make a hint land?

B, I thought Hillary was already putting down deposits on WH furniture? Maybe you show lookup in a dictionary what "impending" means.

Here, I will do it for you!

im·pend
verb
gerund or present participle: impending
be about to happen.

CStanley said...

I didn't think he was sweaty but he was twitchy. Interesting, reading the comment by Dan, that Adams had a laryngeal disorder- maybe that affects his mannerisms when he is speaking,

I think he's onto something with regard to Trump's ability to persuade. I can acknowledge this without thinking that is a good thing though.

Nonapod said...

I've never thought of Trump as an officially diagnosable narcissist, mostly because I don't even know what that specifically is. If lacking empathy is considered a key component, then I don't think Trump could be diagnosed as one. I think having empathy has been a key component in Trumps success.

And as I've said before, I have no idea of how he'd actually be as president. For all I know he could be the greatest president ever. Then again he could be a complete disaster. I just don't have a sense for that since there's so many things that are largely unprecedented about him.

He prides himself on being unpredictable, being a loose canon, a wild card. He has infamously switched positions on several major issues. You can't expect that what he says today will be what he does tomorrow. Some may argue that that's the case for all successful politicians, but I don't believe to the extreme that Trump is.

The point is, he's an unknown quantity. A risk. And I'm a conservative person, not just politically, but in most things. I don't like rapid change. I don't like high risk.

Ann Althouse said...

"What if Adams is wrong and the polls are right? Hillary wins. Adams graduated from Hartwick College and has an MBA from Berkley. He worked in banking. Not an engineer but he knows software. Smart guy, but I'm not ready to abandon all the polls especially knowing that the dirt on Donald isn't out."

What polls? I haven't seen the electoral college mapped out with state by state polls, but the new polls have Trump beating Hillary in Ohio. I could look at the other battleground states. Have you don't that? Have you questioned whether you aren't just gravitating to the arguments that support the outcome you're hoping for?

Why hasn't the dirt on Trump come out yet? How did Jeb manage not to get around to that as he spent 100+ million?

MadisonMan said...

How did Jeb manage not to get around to that as he spent 100+ million?

It boggles the mind -- I wonder what he spent that money on? How much went to "consultants" who failed miserably?

Fabi said...

You may want to put some ice on that, David.

eric said...

The Trump haters are running out of ammo.

I really wish they had enough to take him out and elevate Cruz. But, they don't. And it's looking like Trump will be our next President.

tim maguire said...

MadisonMan said...
How did Jeb manage not to get around to that as he spent 100+ million?

It boggles the mind -- I wonder what he spent that money on? How much went to "consultants" who failed miserably


He spent most of it trying to corner the futures market on "!" He clearly didn't spend it on a jebbush website.

David Begley said...

AA

I have no idea why all the negatives on Trump haven't come out. Four BKs speak of repeated failure, stupidity or something. His "own personal Vietnam" comment to Howard Stern is dynamite. If I were Cruz or Rubio I'd roll that out tonight.

My sense is that 40% of the GOP will ignore everything about Trump the same way 40% of Dems ignore everything about Hillary.

What is the worst stuff on Ted and Marco? People don't like Ted and Marco made a mistake on the Gang of 8. Big deal.

tim maguire said...

eric said...
The Trump haters are running out of ammo.


You're channeling a little Trump there, yourself. Is hating Trump really the only reason a person might support someone else?

traditionalguy said...

Listening to others that are scared and confused this year, I do hear over and over the meme that there is big dirt on Trump just about to come out. It is always something to do with his ways of profiting in business deals.

CNN ran a straight faced version of that this morning as an antidote to last nights wipe out of the othercandidates. They had a stern faced executive from The Club For Growth talking down to silly voters for their ignoring Trump's business history that is about to be exposed as raping widows and orphans. Really, it is just around the corner.

It was like watching the Onion taking itself seriously. The Club For Growth is an out dated protection racquet willing to support or attack the "Conservativeness' of any candidate for cash payment up front. But the whole anti-trump Machine has been peddling that slander meme for over a month now, to no avail.

Sebastian said...

@N: "He has infamously switched positions on several major issues" But, but, Rubio was part of the gang of 8, so there.

"Why hasn't the dirt on Trump come out yet?" It has. Beldar has laid out some of it here. The great businessman is a multiple-bankruptcy huckster. All irrelevant.

"Look at that face!" the magazine quoted Trump as saying. "Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president. I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not s'posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?" In normal times, that would be dirt. Count on Hillary! to dig it up.

Gospace said...

Methinks, with Trump, all the dirt is out. But his supporters don't care. And if (or when) he gets the nomination, and the justice department immediately indicts him on some Trumped up securities fraud charge (Anyone want to bet it won't happen?) his support will go through the roof. Especially as they fail to indict Monica Lewinsky's ex-boyfriends wife.

Dan said...

Everybody acts like Presidents of the past didn't have potty mouths, weren't ever fearsome to their competition. Everybody acts like our current PC culture is the way America has always been.

David Begley said...

Clinton 2.8 over Trump with over 10% undecided.

Rubio beats Hillary by nearly 5%.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_clinton-5491.html

Fernandinande said...

Dan said...
Everybody acts like our current PC culture is the way America has always been.


Part of being civilized is being a bit wimpy, tho PC takes that to ridiculous levels. But this is pretty cool:

"In 1804, Thomas Jefferson's vice president Aaron Burr had also avoided murder charges after killing former Treasury secretary and founding father Alexander Hamilton in a duel."

Lyle Sanford, RMT said...

For his vocal dystonia he ended up having some surgery that mostly corrected it. He blogged about it all from first noticing the problem - researching all the angles - deciding on chancy surgery - fairly long recovery. (It was all on the old blog, though). I was really struck by his talking openly about something so scary and personal - but he was motivated in part by letting other people out there with the problem what the options were.

Dan said...

I believe, Fernandinande, that Lincoln was quite the ribald storyteller... and Lyndon Johnson was a very crude bully... that didn't stop them from doing many good things, and many bad things. Just like all presidents.

Dude1394 said...

I am reading Scotts book now and he was a lot of things. Including working at Pacific Bell as what he calls a "pseudo engineer". Very interesting read.

Dude1394 said...

Speaking of Potty mouths as I recall Andrew Jackson's parrot had such a potty mouth that he was ejected from his funeral.

Spiros Pappas said...

I wonder if even Shelley Adelson voted for Trump last night?

Brando said...

"Why does the left thinks Canada would have them? With $30 oil Canada has its own problems and doesn't need a wave of refugees with expensive tastes in government largesse."

I wouldn't worry. The Left is about as likely to voluntarily leave en masse to Canada as the 10 million illegal immigrants in this country are likely to leave by deportation.

"The Trump haters are running out of ammo."

The ammo doesn't work--you can't fight Trumpism with arguments and logic, only mockery, and his opponents haven't used that. They still think they're fighting a 1990s style campaign.

He's very likely to be the nominee, and while he has an uphill battle for the presidency he does have a chance (thanks to the Dems scuttling themselves this year for the Clintons). Either way, we get an incompetent, corrupt president when it's all said and done.

"Clinton 2.8 over Trump with over 10% undecided.

Rubio beats Hillary by nearly 5%."

Yes, but Rubio is unlikely to be the nominee. It's early yet--plenty of time to find out who the voters hate more come November. At least it won't be boring.

"Listening to others that are scared and confused this year, I do hear over and over the meme that there is big dirt on Trump just about to come out. It is always something to do with his ways of profiting in business deals."

As a Trump critic, I'd want to see what the "dirt" actually is, as a lot of these business suits can be groundless. But even if something big did come up, I don't think it'll make a bit of difference for his fans. He says he'll make America great again, that he's on their side against the "others" and that you can trust him because he's a brilliant man, and they believe it. You can't shake that.

Bill Peschel said...

Canada won't take anyone. I looked into it years ago, because it seemed like a well-run country with beautiful lands and people I can get along with.

They won't let you in unless you're sponsored by someone already there. Period.

As for Trump, he is inexperienced in running a government with policy positions that have shifted across the political spectrum. He's rude and crude and that's not a bug but a feature to his supporters.

He's the white Obama.

Brando said...

"Canada won't take anyone. I looked into it years ago, because it seemed like a well-run country with beautiful lands and people I can get along with."

I never really considered Canada, as my job is here, and having lived in Maine I can do without all that cold. But not even a President Hillary, Trump or Bernie would be enough to make me think I have to leave the country over it.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Trump draws from the Reagan Democrat pool too, which scares the Hildebeast. She knows the Democrats have turned their collective backs on the blue collar worker, and she's stuck in toeing the Obama line to keep him from drip-drip-dripping her lousy approach to national security (secret server!). She's hugging him so tight there's no daylight between POTUS and his former SoS. No daylight: all-in on Black Lives Smatter, talking in her bad negro dialect again, repudiating every single policy victory of the Bill Clinton presidency, throwing the fake hate on her erstwhile buds on Wall Street. Most of these are positions she will reverse in the Fall should she be nominated.

But Trump has benefited from being a known entity, from his dozen or so years on The Apprentice. The lame-ass media hit-jobs that routinely sink Republicans do not work on him. He rejects the premise. In fact all their premises. His support is as much appreciation of the issues he's staked out -- especially illegal immigration -- as it is his ability to project a big FUCK YOU to the two ruling parties. To R's he says "I'm a bigger better Republican than the idiots running the party." The votes validate that. (And I appreciate it having been burned by the weak-spined R's over and over to a hellishly frustrating degree.) To D's he says, "I played the game and paid the Danegeld but the Democrats are out of ideas and out of viable candidates. Look at them!" There's plenty of disaffected Democrats too who are sick of this stagnant economy and the Black Messiah bowing to dictators while letting the third world flood us with refugees and unaccompanied minors in a bid to drive wages down even more and cultivate a new voter class. Obama's decision to fire the voters he had and bring in new ones ain't panning out for the Dowager Empress of Chappaqua. Although she could still be the nominee, she fears facing the fearless Trump who does not play by The Rules and will ruthlessly attack her from now to November.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Not to mention Hillary and Bill have been openly envious of wealth ever since they dragged their trailer in from Arkansas and saw how money ruled Washington. Trump is already a part of that 1% crowd in which the Clintons wish to be included, have married their daughter into and formed their Global Cash Cow to leverage. Her grasping nature is so obvious and well known that she can't really turn populist now.

JSD said...

I would get a bunch of “Joe the Plumber’s” who got stiffed in any one of his four bankruptcies and make ads with the scary voice-over lady.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

I'm amazed people are really going with the angle that Trump's too crude and vulgar to be President. He's not my candidate, but come on. Bill Clinton! Bill Clinton is beloved by the Media, is campaigning for his wife, is supposed to be the greatest living President...and he got an intern to blow him in the Oval Office. Crude? Vulgar? Harming the dignity of the office? A large portion of this country made it clear they didn't mind Clinton's behavior much at all!
Sure, Republicans are supposed to be better, but Mr. Nice Guy (Mitt Romney) lost to Barack Obama's Chicago way.
Clinton used a cigar as a sex toy on an employee during work hours IN THE WHITE HOUSE. You're telling me that his behavior is somehow Presidential, but Trump's potty mouth should disqualify Trump from holding the office?
Guys, the "respect the dignity of the office" train left a long time ago, and you cultured elitists on the Left were all to happy to see it happen. Let's not pretend some consideration of that sort should have moral weight now.

damikesc said...

Canada is offering an island for American refugees of the impending Trump Regime.

Yeah. Go with she male Trudeau, who has managed to break numerous campaign promises in amazingly short order.

Adams graduated from Hartwick College and has an MBA from Berkley. He worked in banking. Not an engineer but he knows software. Smart guy, but I'm not ready to abandon all the polls especially knowing that the dirt on Donald isn't out.

Thing is, the dirt IS out. Has been for years. His affairs. Bankruptcies. Pointless feuds. It's all out in the open.

NOW, Hillary, on the other hand...

Keep in mind, it wasn't that long ago he couldn't get 1/3 of Republicans to support him. That has changed tremendously. You don't have to be the greatest person in the world to win an election.

Just better than the alternative. And Hillary is a terrible alternative.

Also, you have to be a narcissist to even run for the White House.

damikesc said...

I would get a bunch of “Joe the Plumber’s” who got stiffed in any one of his four bankruptcies and make ads with the scary voice-over lady.

Good luck on that. The ones screwed were, largely, high money investors. Not the most sympathetic lot.

Also, has Donald done paid speeches for large banks? Because Hillary's demand for the Republicans to release their speeches for her to release her transcripts could be dealt with easily enough.

Hell, has Rubio done high pay speeches? Cruz? Kasich? Carson possibly has, but I doubt to the level she did.

buwaya said...

Lyndon Johnson was much cruder than Clinton, in language, personal and official behavior, though it wasn't reported at the time.
Kennedy was probably worse-behaved than Clinton in womanizing.
Trump just doesn't compare with any of these three, as far as anyone knows.

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

You, and others, keep saying that as if there were some.

On what do you base your assumption?

Got any names of people or companies that were stiffed? By names I mean "Joes plumbing company", Steve Smith, ABC Bank or the like. Not just "A lot of [unnamed] little people"

I suspect you will reply with some argle-bargle but no names.

If there were names of people who got stiffed you and or others would have told us by now. I've been looking for 6 months now and have not found anyone.

Who got stiffed and for how much? Otherwise just leave your piehole in the closed position and keep your fingers away from the keyboard when the grownups are talking.

John Henry

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

Didn't Herblock make an entire career of explaining the Middle East and other political topics?

John Henry

Anonymous said...

I suspect there is plenty of dirt to come out on Trump yet. I think he also suspects someone will unearth them eventually, especially if he gets the nomination. After all, he said he could shoot someone and his followers would still like him.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

I wonder Trump University students are going to vote Republican.

Nyamujal said...

This is helpful:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/19/opinion/beppe-severgnini-what-italy-can-teach-america-about-donald-trump.html?_r=0

Kirby Olson said...

Donald Trump.
Donald Trump.
The grass grew up,
and tickled his rump.

mikee said...

As an early recommender of Adams to this blog, I applaud Althouse taking additional notice of him. However accurate his early predictions may have been on Trump, and the precision about the reason Trump has lasted so long, Adams also rapidly eats crow when he is wrong (Iowa). Both are features, not bugs, of following Adams.

damikesc said...

Didn't Herblock make an entire career of explaining the Middle East and other political topics?

He had a career.

He couldn't explain a thing if his life depended on it. What he lacked in artistic ability, he made up with sheer idiocy.

I suspect there is plenty of dirt to come out on Trump yet. I think he also suspects someone will unearth them eventually, especially if he gets the nomination.

He's a well known and extremely well covered celebrity for decades. There isn't much left to uncover.

harrogate said...

"I missed the part where a cartoonist, as a trained engineer, is a political science wonder?"

In a world where Charles Krauthammer and Bill Kristol are "foreign policy experts," anything is possible.

mtrobertslaw said...

"Look at that face, would anybody vote for that?"

Trump is saying exactly what a great many voters say to themselves when they are suddenly assaulted with a photo of Hillary without her makeup.

His ability to express in street language exactly what people are silently thinking to themselves is one of the main reasons for his success.

Somehow, he seems to be able to read the minds of the silent majority and then, much to their delight, express their thoughts in language they themselves would never use in public.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JaimeRoberto said...

Lefties always make a lot of noise about leaving for Canada if a Republican wins the presidency, but they never leave. Yet silently expatriations have increased significantly since 2008. http://money.cnn.com/2015/05/08/pf/taxes/american-expats-passports-renounce/

Meade said...

Donald Trump.
Sat on a stump.
The grass grew up,
and tickled his rump.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JSD said...

The ones screwed were, largely, high money investors. Not the most sympathetic lot.

Is that the Trump version of “Feel the Burn”? Fuck those greedy bankers?

Otherwise just leave your piehole in the closed position and keep your fingers away from the keyboard when the grownups are talking.

I think there is a little bit of a contradiction in that sentence construction.

John Henry said...

Blogger JSD said...

The ones screwed were, largely, high money investors. Not the most sympathetic lot.

As I expected, just argle bargle, no specifics.

And, I thought you said it was "Joe the plumber" types that you wanted to get speaking out. Now you say there aren't any?

Who were these "high money investors" who you claim got stiffed? Names of individuals or companies, please.

You can't answer because you don't know, do you? You don't know because there weren't any of them either, were there?

John Henry

damikesc said...

Is that the Trump version of “Feel the Burn”? Fuck those greedy bankers?

If you're hoping to derail Trump by bringing out bankers to protest how he screwed them, you are unlikely to do well in your efforts. What next, bringing out union bosses to discuss how fat and lazy he is?

Otherwise just leave your piehole in the closed position and keep your fingers away from the keyboard when the grownups are talking.

I would.

Can you tell me where the grownups are, Skippy?

Mary Beth said...

Amanda said...

Canada is offering an island for American refugees of the impending Trump Regime.

2/24/16, 9:01 AM


For those that aren't leaving the country to go to Alaska or Hawaii.

Oso Negro said...

Weeping Jesus on the Cross, Althouse! This is turning into a Scott Adams fanblog.

Known Unknown said...

"I have no idea why all the negatives on Trump haven't come out. Four BKs speak of repeated failure, stupidity or something. His "own personal Vietnam" comment to Howard Stern is dynamite. If I were Cruz or Rubio I'd roll that out tonight."

No one cares. The electorate that is currently supporting Trump has been exhausted by the Capitol District's patronizing, condescending, tsk-tsking, tut-tutting, othering, education-shaming, safe-spacing, race-baiting, deficit-spending, bitter clingering crony Democrats, feckless GOPes, beltway blabberers, and coastal media shitterati.

They're done with the status quo. It no longer serves their interests.

Anonymous said...

http://www.mediaite.com/online/romney-demands-trump-release-his-tax-returns-says-theres-a-bombshell-in-there/

"Former GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney called in to Fox host Neil Cavuto‘s show Wednesday afternoon, and speculated that Donald Trump might be deliberately concealing information about his net worth and donation habits from the American voters.

Trump, Romney noted, had done a fine job harnessing people’s anger with a “political class that’s been fiddling and diddling,” leading to gridlock and inaction in Washington, but speculated that there were some as yet unearthed facts from the mogul’s past that could come back to haunt him — specifically, he said, he believed that “there’s a bombshell in Donad Trump’s taxes.”"


So people here think that Trump has nothing to hide, that everything there is to know about him is already out? Hmmm, maybe not. I suspect the big guns are coming out now that it appears there is no stopping Trump from getting the nomination.

Fabi said...

How would you divine someone's net worth from a tax return? That's pretty silly, for sure. Also, how would Mitt or anyone else have insight into Trump's tax return? I really hate to see Romney debase himself like this.

Anonymous said...

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/02/24/beck-completes-his-fast-calls-breibart-executive-chairman-goebbels/

"Earlier in his show, Beck stated:

There is a storm coming of biblical proportions, a storm coming beyond your recognition. When the economy collapses, when our currency is worth toilet paper, who do you want, who do you want handling our nation? You want somebody who has divide us, who is grooming Brownshirts? I was at the caucus last night. I had never seen anything like it. These Trump supporters were beyond recognition as anything I’ve ever seen — rude, vile, nasty. I don’t want to say all of them. But there’s enough of them. And the ones that I met that were nice, I don’t how you can stand in the same room with them. I don’t know if you look — how do you look at those people and say, “Wait a minute. That’s what my guy is encouraging.”"

I must agree with Beck here in his characterization of Trump supporters who are indeed "rude, vile, nasty". I've noticed.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Amanda: I must agree with Beck here in his characterization...

Beck has at best a tenuous hold on sanity, so it isn't surprising you'd be of one mind with him here.

Anonymous said...

Angelyne, even a broken clock is right twice a day. What happened? You folks used to absolutely love Glenn Beck, now you love Trump who is oh so much saner than Glenn Beck, don't you know. The rantings of megalomaniacs are attactractive to people who have a loose grip on sanity, that's my observation.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...


http://www.nationalreview.com/article/431858/donald-trump-2016-campaign-must-be-stopped

"Tomorrow night, as they stand on either side of Trump, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz must find their resolve and all-but-machine-gun the man to the floor. Incidentally, when I say “everything,” I really do mean everything."

"Without breaks for water or silence for applause, they must explain that Trump is an entitled mess whose business record is so questionable that he managed to bankrupt a casino; that he is an unashamed fraud who didn’t even wait to be elected president before folding on Planned Parenthood and Obamacare, exactly like the “feckless” Congress he is running against; that he is feigning religiosity to appeal to people he believes are rubes; and, above all, that whatever he may be pretending now, he has spent a lifetime screwing the little guy. They must repeat verbatim his previous words on amnesty; they must outline in detail how his policies will make life worse for everyone; and they must point out that a Trump nomination designed to “mix things up” will result, eventually, in more of the same."

I doubt Cruz or Rubio has the balls, but I do think that the gloves will come off soon by someone or two or three, who will try to bring down Godzilla before he gets the nomination. The Republican establishment has failed to stop the monster they've created. Maybe they have a secret weapon to use, interesting times ahead.

Anonymous said...

As a conservative who wants results.
Club for Growth : Very bad
Chamber of Commerce : Awfully bad.
Rubio : Is Romney Lite which is the same as failure lite.
Cruz : Can do but is Trumped.

Anonymous said...

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2015/PPP_Release_SC_21616.pdf

"Trump's support in South Carolina is built on a base of voters among whom religious and racial intolerance pervades. Among the beliefs of his supporters:

-70% think the Confederate flag should still be flying over the State Capital, to only 20% who agree with it being taken down. In fact 38% of Trump voters say they wish the South had won the Civil War to only 24% glad the North won and 38% who aren't sure. Overall just 36% of Republican primary voters in the state are glad the North emerged victorious to 30% for the South, but Trump's the only one whose supporters actually wish the South had won.

-By an 80/9 spread, Trump voters support his proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States. In fact 31% would support a ban on homosexuals entering the United States as well, something no more than 17% of anyone else's voters think is a good idea. There's also 62/23 support among Trump voters for creating a national database of Muslims and 40/36 support for shutting down all the mosques in the United States, something no one else's voters back. Only 44% of Trump voters think the practice of Islam should even be legal at all in the United States, to 33% who think it should be illegal. To put all the views toward Muslims in context though, 32% of Trump voters continue to believe the policy of Japanese internment during World War II was a good one, compared to only 33% who oppose it and 35% who have no opinion one way or another."

That is fucked up.

Anonymous said...

1. Build a wall.
2. Create Jobs.
3. Destroy political correctness.

That is Trump. All else is fluff and fluffers avoiding Trump.

SGT Ted said...

Trump supporters are described as idiots, fascists, dupes and stooges. But it's Trump supporters who are "rude, vile and nasty". Got it.

I'm not a Trump supporter but the whining about expressed open anger by those that are that is aimed at the establishment doesn't move me.

Politics ain't beanbag.

Drago said...

Amanda: "Angelyne, even a broken clock is right twice a day. What happened? You folks used to absolutely love Glenn Beck.."

Always interesting when the Ed Schultz crowd checks in.

rcocean said...

"70% think the Confederate flag should still be flying over the State Capital, to only 20% who agree with it being taken down. In fact 38% of Trump voters say they wish the South had won the Civil War to only 24% glad the North won and 38% who aren't sure"

Not surprising given that South Carolina was the 1st State to secede and the home of Calhoun the greatest proponent of the right to secession and the "Southern Way of Life".

rcocean said...

Actually, I'm not a Trump supporter per se, or a South Carolinian and I'm not sure that the North winning the war was a good thing. You can argue it either way.

Anonymous said...

I like Dilbert and Adams mostly for helping some of my extended family launch, see “dp” below. None from Trump's schools that were happy to exploit your corrupt government's funds for educating a few hungry but poor students, where kids that applied themselves got much more than the competitive diploma mills. They'll be voting for your pTb because they know he's not responsible for the lack of job creating growth where the funds were wasted on bigger government, saving wall street fat cats and telling a few they are “entitled” to better than the rest. I wager they think pTb is talking to them when he says "I'm the conserve in conservative." oh boy. Many of them from your best schools where the results were just as bad, especially since they are smarter than the average minority in your country but still unable to get a job. As the Mills. Us Asians are the j e ws of this age who no matter how smart or well-dressed we can't buy a seat in your best schools, much less a job in the blue blood firms. Good news is you’re shipping them back to us.
Wealth is directly proportional to how many of the 16-70-year-old cohort is working eight plus hours a day at any job. I value Adams for his clever and seductive delivery of this lesson. So buy the book though our host's amazon link dp/1591846919. I did for half of my families ‘and friends’ recent college grads. Who learned that life is a voyage not a destination, and then took the first job they could find, not one they were qualified for. Many are Uber drivers. Some not for long. Others decided to work for themselves out of necessity. And they are no longer living with their parents in grandma's basement. Your pTb is about to discard your rotten elites when he completes a hostile takeover of both parties. No surprise they are reacting like the failed management that find they’ll be on the street soon. TANSTAFL as your greatest author wrote. Aka no work no lunch. Good luck suckers.

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Michael K said...

"Trump supporters who are indeed "rude, vile, nasty". I've noticed."

Hilarious that the left wing troll '"has noticed."

Trump is the result of Obama and Hillary being the leaders of half the country. Where are your Harry Trumans ? Or even Roosevelt or Adlai Stevenson, wimpy as he was ?

Brando said...

"Trump is the result of Obama and Hillary being the leaders of half the country. Where are your Harry Trumans ? Or even Roosevelt or Adlai Stevenson, wimpy as he was ?"

I think it's the result of something going back further. Had Bush with a GOP congressional majority turned out to be a great success (from a conservative or moderate POV) we'd be seeing a GOP flocking towards the next "Bush" (George W, that is). Instead, there's a lot of resentment that they had an opportunity and on several major issues either blew it or got muddled into something far less than a "success". The war isn't very popular among Republicans, and while most don't blame him for the financial crisis they don't feel he fixed it either (and don't care for the "fixes" he did implement). The tax cuts didn't reform the system much, and had a sunset; his only action on health care was a Medicare expansion. Immigration reform went against the direction the party majority wanted, and SS reform fizzled before it became anything.

Then, with Obama the best you can say about the GOP is they prevented him from going further than he did, but that's not the sort of victory that rallies anyone. It's no wonder everyone's pissed.

The Dems' own dissatisfaction is taking the form of Bernie Sanders. But unlike the GOP--which is far more prone for an outsider takeover--the Dems have their nomination far more under control of the insiders. It'll take a much bigger Bernie surge to upend that.

Brando said...

I'll note that the Dems are on the verge of nominating a candidate uniquely suited to lose to Trump. Remember how well Jeb did? Hillary has all of Jeb's flaws and more. If I were a Democrat I'd be very wary of going to battle with Hillary (and I suppose that might be concern trolling, as I don't want Hillary to be president anyway).

Balfegor said...

Re: jdniner:

Rubio : Is Romney Lite which is the same as failure lite.

I wouldn't say he's even Romney Lite -- that's precisely why Republicans were holding out so much hope for him.

1. The positions Rubio has taken have been more "severely conservative" as it were than Romney's.
2. Romney had political experience as a governor of a large (population-wise) state, as well as success managing a business and managing large, politically complex projects (Salt Lake City Olympics) -- Rubio has no executive experience as far as I am aware
3. Romney was educated at elite schools -- Rubio was not.
4. Rubio, as Speaker of the House in Florida, has significant legislative experience - Romney did not

Overall, Rubio is like a more experienced version of 2008 Obama (speaker, rather than just a back-bencher in the state legislature), and that is precisely why so many Republicans had high hopes of him. And like Obama, his career as a Senator has not been marked by any great successes, just a lot of media attention.