March 19, 2016

Donald Trump "doesn’t like invidious comparisons but he’s cool with being called an authoritarian," writes Maureen Dowd...

... paraphrasing her own question to Trump. He answered: 
"We need strength in this country... We have weak leadership. Hillary is pathetically weak. She got us into Libya and she got us into Benghazi and she’s probably got 40 eggheads sitting around a table telling her what to do, and then she was sleeping when the phone call came in from the ambassador begging for help. You know, the 3 a.m. phone call?"
Trump also told Dowd that "Hillary is the one disrupting my rallies. It’s more Hillary than Sanders, I found out," and...
He said he would soon unleash the moniker that he thought would diminish Hillary, the way “Little Marco” and “Lyin’ Ted” torched his Republican rivals; “I want to get rid of the leftovers first.”
Other shots taken:

About Elizabeth Warren: "I think it’s wonderful because the Indians can now partake in the future of the country. She’s got about as much Indian blood as I have. Her whole life was based on a fraud. She got into Harvard and all that because she said she was a minority."

About Mitt Romney: "He’s a jealous fool and not a bright person.... He’s good looking. Other than that, he’s got nothing."

About Obama: "Obama, who is African-American, has done nothing for African Americans." (That came in response to a question from Dowd which she paraphrases as asking "if he realized that, in riling up angry whites, he has pulled the scab off racism.")

172 comments:

David Begley said...

To say Mitt Romney "is not a very bright person" is just not correct. It doesn't work like "low energy" Jeb did.

But I am anxious to hear his nickname for Hillary. Maybe something based on Evita. Hillarita?

eddie willers said...

"Is Hillary mean? I'm telling you folks, don't go walking around Fort Marcy Park, OK?"

Skeptical Voter said...

Yup looking for the Hildebeest's Trumpian Nickname. And it's nice that he took a shot at Fauxcahontas of the High Cheekbone Tribe.

Clyde said...

I don't know about his characterization of Romney, but the others are spot-on. About time someone called out Fauxcahontas, talked about Hillary's weakness and Obama's total apathy about helping his black brothers and sisters. With Trump saying it, it gets past the DNC-MSM censors.

YoungHegelian said...

Trump is like a touch stone, isn't he?

Here's this guy, & he's been in the public eye for decades, & he's hob-nobbed with most of them. But, he runs this rather out-of-the-ordinary campaign, & the chattering classes left & right start writing about this man as if they'd been asked to write an article on the Higg's Boson. Hello, can you miss the mark any more?

The items that MoDo lists out, plus Trump's "scandalous" replies, are, by now, right-wing boilerplate. I've read the jabs at Warren's Indian background (Fauxcahontas), Romney as an empty suit, blacks got nothing from Obama, in the right-wing blogosphere for years now. Does she actually think that Trump is just pulling this stuff out of his ass? Does she really have no idea how the other half lives?

Sadly, I think we know the answers to the last two questions (Yes & No).

Mark said...

Warren is a fraud. Hillary is corrupt to the core. Obama is an incompetent demagogue. And the people don't care.

The people do not care. That is why, Mr. Trump, so many of them support you.

tim in vermont said...

Now that he mentions it, there is not a huge pile of evidence that Romney is especially bright. Careful, reserved, competent, sure.

CachorroQuente said...

Trump says, "Obama, who is African-American[...]"

No longer a birther, then. I'll bet that if Trump gets nominated, if he garners the Republican nomination, that is, that his role as birther-in-chief receives a lot of attention.

Phil 314 said...

Invidious?

Limited blogger said...

No new ground broken there. Except that Mitt's dumb.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

@YoungHegelian

Yep, the pundit class simply has no idea what huge swathes of the populace think. Why should they, after all its self-evident that if you are against illegal immigration or think Obama has done a poor job as POTUS then you are a racist. And racists, as we all know, can be ignored since it isn't like they could vote or anything.

Achilles said...

David Begley said...
"To say Mitt Romney "is not a very bright person" is just not correct. It doesn't work like "low energy" Jeb did.

But I am anxious to hear his nickname for Hillary. Maybe something based on Evita. Hillarita?"

I the word association game he called her evil.

I can't wait for him to crush her.

Michael K said...

"there is not a huge pile of evidence that Romney is especially bright."

I think Romney is bright as many Mormons are bright. Very Bright. The problem is,and this is only really a problem in politics, is that they are too nice.

I know Mormons and they all have that bright smile and friendly manner but they don't seem to have the killer instinct. Now, they might have it in business but not in public. They don't want to seem mean. I know this is a stereotype but think about it for moment.

When did you last meet a nasty Mormon ?

CachorroQuente said...

This line is precious, too:

"[S]he’s probably got 40 eggheads sitting around a table telling her what to do"

While DilDon sits alone in a darkened room, twittering with one of his tiny little hands, taking advice from one of his alters, so much like Peter Sellers fighting his own nature. "Hey, look! It's Slim Pickens down there!"

wildswan said...

I see the left is blocking access to Trump rallies by chaining themselves to cars and blocking the highway. Prolifers did that. We were told we were interfering with constitutional rights. And we were charged with racketeering under the RICO law. What is more of a constitutional right than going to your candidate's rally? and this right is now being interfered with. And I'm sure conspiracy to interfere with Trump supporters and their right to attend the rally of their candidate could be proved (using e-mails and Facebook which Homeland Security is collecting) and a conspiracy charge brought. In a fair society it would be done. But the Democrats won't do it and won't get called out on the double standard by the media. After awhile, you can only laugh at the moral circus in the Democratistan of Columbia

Lewis Wetzel said...

Isn't the interview more than a little dishonest?
Dowd won't give us her actual questions. She paraphrases some of his answers as well as her questions ("He doesn’t like invidious comparisons but he’s cool with being called an authoritarian").
Also it is in the opinion section, not the news section, and the Times is famously resistant to issuing corrections to opinion columns because they are opinion columns.

Amadeus 48 said...

Michael K--Harry Reid.

Sebastian said...

Possible nickname for Hillary!: Rodham.

Bob Ellison said...

Michael K, it's a Mormon mystery. They do tend to be very nice overall, and if I'm hanging by one hand off a cliff with nobody but a Mormon and a whatever to save me, I'm picking the Mormon.

Mormons tend to be humble, loyal, and forgiving. Where will this group go in future years?

Chuck said...

So, Althouse. You summarized all of the Scott Adams verbal "kill shots." And duly noted the emotional pulls.

And, as is seemingly your wont these days, you skipped over the parts where there are some actual facts.

It's a rare day indeed where I give Maureen Dowd any credit; and my reading of Maureen Dowd is effectively doubled by the fact that Ann Althouse links to a Dowd column once every 2 or 3 months. But let's give Maureen Dowd credit for asking a question that nobody on Fox News or at Breitbart or at the Drudge Report seems interested in; Trump's ownership and bedside storage of a copy of collected speeches by Adolph Hitler, entitled "My New Order."

From the column that Althouse linked, but did not quote:

"I wondered about ex-wife Ivana telling her lawyer, according to Vanity Fair, that Trump kept a book of Hitler’s speeches by his bed. Or the talk in New York that in the ’90s he was reading 'Mein Kampf.' Nein, he said. 'I never had the book,' he said. 'I never read the book. I don’t care about the book.'"

According to Ivana Trump, who told her lawyer and who in turn spoke with Vanity Fair writers, Trump kept a copy of "My New Order" at his bedside. Asked about it (in the Vanity Fair profile), Trump said that a Jewish friend at Paramount named Marty Davis gave Trump a copy of the more-mundane(?) book, "Mein Kampf." In the Vanity Fair article, Davis is asked about the book. He confirms that indeed he gave Trump a copy of "My New Order." Oh, and he's not Jewish.

So I've got my own kill-shot name for Trump. "Weird, laughable fucking liar." Does that work? Too many words? It might be too complicated, with too many implicit thoughts, for Trump's current supporters. The Nazi Don?

By the way, Godwin's Law doesn't apply here, does it? I mean, the chances of an conversation turning to a Hitler or Nazis is already at 1, if the discussion is about someone's falsely-denied ownership of the most famed book of Hitler speeches ever published... right?

eddie willers said...

Possible nickname for Hillary!: Rodham.

Tonya Rodham Bobbit

buwaya said...

Young Hegelian is right.
These people don't read or listen to the other side - any other side.
It's not in their nature to be interested.
That's an iron bubble they've got, and after all these years in San Francisco, and experience with the SWPL crowd, I think most aren't really capable of breaking through. Pretty much everything outside their comfort zone doesn't register. They can admire a piece of art but can't get into the mind and purpose of the artist, if it's not framed in a way they can relate to.
It's really quite bizarre to have people, white people, supposedly educated in top universities, lecture foreign immigrants about multicultural understanding. They treat Catholic clergy (or Orthodox, Muslim, or Jewish) like visitors from Arcturus. They tell Chinese parents (experts at working the educational system, and at social mobility) - to drop their ambitions and listen to the experts. It goes on and on.

Bob Ellison said...

Chuck, I think the pig has jumped over the stile on Godwin's Law.

So I assume you are implying that Trump is Hitler, right?

Big Mike said...

"Obama, who is African-American, has done nothing for African Americans."

Not completely true. He succeeded in destroying a number of small businesses owned by African-Americans by his failure to discourage rioting in places like Ferguson and Baltimore. So he's done something -- a negative something, but not nothing. As Althouse has famously noted, often "better than nothing" is a very high standard. Especially in liberal politics.

Big Mike said...

@Sebastian, not "Rodham." "Rob-'em."

buwaya said...

"My New Order" isn't a very famous book. It's not "Mein Kampf", not even close in sales, printing or references. It's interesting on its own, but its not the straight conduit to Hitlers soul that Mein Kampf is.
It's also not the only compilation of Hitler's speeches.
I would classify it as more in the nature of an academic reference, because it's a straight transcription of speeches, and because it is very well annotated. A lot of them. It's bloody long, it's repetitive (Hitler went on and on about the same things year after year).
It's interesting to the academic and the professional public speaker.

madAsHell said...

When did you last meet a nasty Mormon ?

Never, and I always say hello to the missionaries I see around town.

Chuck said...

No, Bob Ellison; for me to call Trump a Nazi would amount to my suggesting that Trump had an ideology of any kind. And I don't believe that he does.

I don't expect that Trump is smart enough to actually be any sort of secret Nazi. I expect that Trump -- whose emotional development seems to have been permanently arrested at around age 15 -- has a fifteen-year-old's appreciation of Nazism.

So, no; I am not implying that Trump is Hitler.

What I am pointing out is just what the Vanity Fair writers and editors were; that Donald Trump is a liar. A liar of such gigantic and laughable proportions that it would be easy to conclude that he is mentally unbalanced. I base that only on the things that Donald Trump has said, while being recorded on audio tape, on video tape, on digital recordings, and while under oath as recorded by a court stenographer.

Curtiss said...

Was there a MoDo interview with Romney or McCain?

buwaya said...

Studying Hitler, for a politician, is useful professional education. It's sort of like reading Guderian or Rommel (Rommel's "Infantry Attacks" was printed and issued by the US Army).
Note that Rommel was a protege of Hitler, who favored him at a critical point in his career.

Chuck said...

buwaya puti:

Your reasonable post would serve as an excellent explanation as to why Martin Davis would give a copy of "My New Order" to Donald Trump. And to me, that's the easiest and least remarkable part of the story.

It does nothing, to explain Donald Trump's lying at the time. One lie -- he didn't own it; after another -- it was 'Mein Kampf; after another -- that Marty Davis was a Jew and so somehow maybe that makes it okay...

And now the new series of lies. That he didn't have the book and that he didn't read it.

Bob Ellison said...

Chuck, that seems like a fair assessment.

I'm getting tired of the expression "we shall see". It's popular nowadays. But in this case, it's appropriate.

I keep thinking, "I am tired." Tired of dodging everything.

How is Hillary not tired; how not Trump? These are maniacs.

Brando said...

Much as I can't stand the man, he sometimes says exactly what needs to be said.

buwaya said...

I believe that precisely why he gave Trump that book, along with its being just a bit of a perversely ironic joke. Professional reading and ironic jokes however don't explain well in sound bites.
In your case, I think you are making mountains out of molehills. It would be better to be more concerned with actually important things. Such as, for one, the rather critical problems of US institutional structures. Your real enemies, in their thousands, infest US bureaucracies, courts, and academies. Each one is a more terrible monster than Trump, and each one wants desperately to eat your liver. Go bite them.

Howard said...

Trump doesn't even try to hide he's a liar. That's what makes him appear to be more honest than other politicians.

If Romney is so bright, how did he lose to O'bumbles? Mormons are so nice, they operate a racist patriarchy. They appear nice to make it easier to back-stab. The whole nice con is perpetuated by their men speaking in namby-pamby tones: 100% phony. You people will believe anything as long as it fits with your twisted worldview.

Chuck: apparently you missed the Dilbert explanation of Trump's verbal judo, all of your silly tactics are powerless to stop Trump.

It's a mute point, he will make sure of a brokered convention, will lose and then run as a turd party.

Start repeating Madame President because you are gonna need to get used to it.

gadfly said...

@Big Mike said...
. . . not "Rodham." "Rob-'em."

Rob 'em - that is what Trump has been doing for his entire adult life.
Gosh! I forgot again - it is never permissable to criticize the Donald. Sorry.

Howard said...

buwaya puti: I see the big money con-job works on you to fear the inconsequential boogieman and not to pay attention to the man to big to fail behind the curtain.

Howard said...

gadfly: your mistake is thinking that insults Trump. He wears his rip-off proud

Big Mike said...

Gosh! I forgot again - it is never permissible [sic] to criticize the Donald.

@gadfly, it's always permissible (note spelling) "the Donald." The rest of use merely want the same right to criticize Mr. and Mrs. Clinton.

Even if she has a vagina.

And is a liberal Democrat.

That's okay with you, right?

Chuck said...

buwaya puti;

Don't tell me what I ought to think or who my "real enemies" are.

I'll decide who I want to hate, thank you very little. Right now it is the all-world liar who I expect could drive the Republican Party into a ditch.

Do you have a comment for me on Trump's purely astonishing record of lies? Apart from, you know, that I am worried about the wrong topics? Is Trump merely lying about unimportant things?

Paco Wové said...

"It's really quite bizarre to have people, white people, supposedly educated in top universities, lecture foreign immigrants about multicultural understanding. They treat ...clergy ... like visitors from Arcturus. They tell Chinese parents (experts at working the educational system, and at social mobility) - to drop their ambitions and listen to the experts."

I've heard it called Great White Bwana Syndrome, the deep-seated conviction that one is of the all-powerful, all-knowing, magnanimous ruling class, and thereby privileged – nay, obliged – to dispense little nuggets of your wonderfulness to others. That others may not need or want anything to do with your wonderfulness is irrelevant. That others may know more, or be better than you, is simply inconceivable.

Anonymous said...

"Muslim Vet booted from Trump rally, told to "Get a job!" One of the most perplexing parts of the Donald Trump experience is that his fans don’t seem to believe in anything. They hold no principles they won’t instantly abandon on a whim; they never practice what they preach, and what they preach has absolutely no relation to reality. This bizarre lack of ideological cohesion is particularly galling when it comes to our veterans – publicly, they put our fighting men and women on a pedestal to use for political brownie points, but when it comes down to it, your religion means more to them than the sacrifices you’ve made to keep them free. That disgusting hypocrisy put on full display today when a Muslim-American Navy veteran was forcibly ejected from a Trump rally – his crime was holding up a sign saying “Stop Hate Speech Against Muslims!”

Was this veteran yelling, disrupting or merely standing there holding a sign? ( I don't know, hopefully it was caught on video). What of the Muslim woman who was simply standing in her Muslim headdress and also got ejected? Obviously Trump has absolutely no respect for free speech. Silent protests are not disruptive. I surmise Trump and his rally goers are not able to abide even a silent protest.

Paco Wové said...

"I expect could drive the Republican Party into a ditch."

Chuck, have you asked yourself, amidst all your raving about Trump, why – why is your party so lame — why does it suck so bad — that a crazy stupid huckster like Trump could, as you say, "drive [it] into a ditch"?

Ken B said...

My own opinion is that I do not take seriously what someone says about Hitler if they haven't read Mein Kampf.

Hagar said...

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend;" hence Trump.

Lewis Wetzel said...

I hate to say this -- I love my country -- but after 8 years of W and 8 years of Obama, is it possible for 8 years of Trump to be worse than 8 years of Hillary? She has veered far to the left since the days when her meal ticket occupied the White House.

Anonymous said...
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traditionalguy said...

OMG ...Trump is getting on target everytime now after 6 months of target practice to adjust his sights.. He is firing for effect with automatic artillery. He is even better now than the two famous Artillery Commanders who become political Leaders, Bonaparte and Truman.

This guy will take west coast Hollywood libs and east coast NYC/Boston?DC Libs not for his Conservatism, but just for his extreme Talent.

Elite Assassination Teams in every Military and Diplomatic Intelligence service the world over ( Including 7 in DC) must be making plans to terminate this guy.

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

Amanda, could you provide a list of qualifications to comment?

Chuck, could you provide an Index of forbidden books?

jg said...

Dowd is a vicious, dishonest woman. And also a great storyteller and social caricature artist.

Anonymous said...

Buwaya Puti,

Am I mistaken or have you said in the past that you aren't an American citizen and don't even live in the US. I'm wondering why you are qualified to lecture any American commenter here as to what is important for them to be concerned with regarding the issues of this country? You've addressed me similarly in the past and I've ignored you because I believe foreigners don't have really have a true grasp on what ails America. Perhaps you should be more concerned with the country you hold citizenship in and actually live in.

If you do live here in the states, I'll be happy to have you correct me.

Fabi said...

Amanda @5:28 remains unable to understand the obvious with respect to participation at a private event, and that anyone can be removed for any reason or none at all. It has nothing to do with your idiotic reference to "free speech".

jg said...

Ann Coulter vs Maureen Dowd.

CachorroQuente said...

When I was a kid, there was a copy of the "New Order" book in the house. I'm not sure how it got there, my father was a lot of things but not a Nazi sympathizer nor a Hitler fan. It probably came from Goodwill. We had a house full of shit from Goodwill and yard sales. Hundreds of 78 rpm records that cost $.05 each, piles of books that nobody would ever read, dozens of used golf clubs, but no sets. The stuff was so cheap, how could you go wrong? Bratwurst economics at its finest.

So, the book was there and when I was about twelve or so I tried to read some of it. Tough going, very tough. I'm willing to believe that someone gave Trump a copy at some time, but I don't believe that Trump would have ever read more than a page or two. I don't think Trump has the attention span required to slog through something that soporific, unless, of course, some quantity of money is involved.

Anonymous said...

Ken B, there are no qualifications to comment here, however don't be surprised when an American gets pissed off at a foreigner telling them what they "should" be concerned about regarding their own country. Puti is free to comment, but I don't think he has much credibility when it comes to telling an American citizen what he should ignore and what he should pay attention to instead when it comes to American issues.

Anonymous said...

Fabi, it's a political event, I don't give a rat's ass if Trump wants to call if a private event. Protest is the American way. Quit being a fascist.

Fabi said...

Amanda is a nativist! Lulz

jg said...

Chuck, good luck. Nobody has ever tried calling Trump dishonest or fascist or Hitler.

I don't care if Trump read Hitler speeches and tried to softpedal the truth that he read them. But I suppose there's a wisp of a chance that you can get some republican jews against him. Good luck @AIPAC, you beautiful billionaire lion. You need at least *some* jews on your side or you will lose, period.

CachorroQuente said...

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend;" hence Trump.

That's the logic that got half of Europe enslaved to the Soviets after WWII.

jg said...

Amanda, quit being boring.

Fabi said...

It's not called a private event, Amanda, it is a private event. Quit being a moron.

Anonymous said...

Quit being assholes who think Trump is your big daddy.

Chuck said...

Ken B don't give me any of that "forbidden books" bullshit. I am not forbidding any books to anyone. No one is telling Trump what books he can and can't have.

Trump was simply asked a question about a book that he was given; that his ex-wife said that he kept at his bedside. As much as anything -- the really big thing to me -- is that Trump seems to have just lied about it.

The really funny thing to me, since you mentioned it, is that by adopting the Democratic Left's position on Citizens United, Trump has effectively decided which documentary films can be shown within 60 days of federal election. And by "opening up" the libel laws, Trump might well decide what can and can't be said about him in newspapers.

Anonymous said...

"I don't care if Trump read Hitler speeches and tried to softpedal the truth that he read them. But I suppose there's a wisp of a chance that you can get some republican jews against him. You need at least *some* jews on your side or you will lose, period."

Ah I see the White Supremacists have now started commenting. Heil Trumpler!

Hagar said...

"That's the logic that got half of Europe enslaved to the Soviets after WWII."

Huh??? Care to expound on that?

Hagar said...

Amanda thinks blocking public highways is a legitimate form of "protest"?
And very "American"?

Anonymous said...

Hagar,
In my 5:28 PM comment, I was referring to a Muslim Navy veteran protester who was IN the Trump rally holding up a sign. I'd think that would be self explanatory.

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

Chuck,

I have been carrying a copy of both The Doctrine of Fascism and Mein Kampf around with me wherever I go for a year or two now. They are almost never more than 2 feet away.

Also a collection of writings from the 30's by various National Socialist thinkers.

Also some of Karl Marx's journalism on the War Between the States.

So what does that make me?

What books have you read this week?

John Henry

Bay Area Guy said...

Mein Kampf is interesting.

It means "My Struggle" in German.

Hitler wrote it in 1925, during the Weimar Republic years, before he made war or murdered anyone.

He had a lot of beefs about WWI - he didn't like how the German Govt acquiesced to defeat via the Versailles Treaty, when, in his view , Germany had prevailed in the East and had stalemated in the West.

He was also upset with Lenin & Stalin exporting Russian communism to Gemany through agents and puppets.

He also was very prejudiced (and envious) about Jewish success and their perceived disproportionate influence on policy and political matters. He was claiming "victim" status as many folks do today. The culprits, in his view, were weak German leaders who sold the Geman citizenry down the river, Communists, and Jews.

Reading a book by the leader of the National Socialist Party does not does make one a National Socialist. I like to read books by historical figures I like and sometimes dislike.

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

BTW Chuck,

I am still waiting for you to tell us who got stiffed in any of Trump's 4 Chapter 11 bankruptcies.

Either Joe the Plumber types or banks and big investors.

Surely you know who they are, don't you? You keep mentioning them as if you think they actually exist.

Names, chuck, names.

John Henry

FullMoon said...

Amanda said... [hush]​[hide comment]

Quit being assholes who think Trump is your big daddy


Once again, Amanda channels Oscar Wilde's wit, originality, and savoir faire.

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

Ken,

Amanda's qualifications for commenting are that you must agree with her. Otherwise SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!

She has a vagina and isn't afraid to use it!

(As in, you can't disagree with me, I'm a girl)

John Henry

YoungHegelian said...

@PuertoRicoSpaceport,

Also a collection of writings from the 30's by various National Socialist thinkers.

Would you mind providing a link to that collection? Thank you!

Oh, & anytime wants a bibliography of links for further readings in Italian Fascism, just come knocking at the door.

I'm piling up sources, because, if health & energy permits, come retirement I'm seriously considering going back & finishing my PhD in philosophy with a dissertation on Giovanni Gentile.

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

Chuck said

Trump was simply asked a question about a book that he was given; that his ex-wife said that he kept at his bedside. As much as anything -- the really big thing to me -- is that Trump seems to have just lied about it.


Either that or his ex-wife lied about it being there. You really have no idea which one is telling the truth, do you?

Not that I have a problem with Trump or anyone else reading Hitler. I think it should be mandatory for anyone who wants to discuss National Socialism and/or Hitler.

John Henry

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

For those who have not yet seen it, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHs2coAzLJ8

I highly recommend it on several levels.


John Henry

Anonymous said...

Chuck: buwaya puti;

Don't tell me what I ought to think or who my "real enemies" are.

I'll decide who I want to hate, thank you very little. Right now it is the all-world liar who I expect could drive the Republican Party into a ditch.


Your party, your precious party. Your greasy little, soon-to-be superannuated party of greasy little liars, incompetents, hustlers, and operators who are being rolled by a more competent huckster and whimpering about having their sweet scam busted up.

You are a silly, trivial-minded individual. You have no idea or curiosity about what's really going on here and what it means in any context larger than your tightened sphincter.

Anonymous said...

"She has a vagina and isn't afraid to use it!"

John Henry has an ass and he's not afraid to talk out of it!

Howard said...

The teabagging circle-jerk has turned into a circular firing squad. All Heil Drumpf

Hagar said...

You need to watch Trump on the meaning of "is" as closely as the Clintons.
However, so far I think Trump has kept his parsing and obfuscations to minor things - the big things he just says are going to be "yuuuge."

Hillary! OTOH, has been lying about quite material things for 50 years now.

Michael K said...

"
Blogger Amadeus 48 said...
Michael K--Harry Reid."

Excellent example although I had a Jewish friend who was such a bad investor that he called himself a "Jewish mutant."

Maybe Harry is a "Mormon mutant."

CachorroQuente said...

Hagar:
"That's the logic that got half of Europe enslaved to the Soviets after WWII."

Huh??? Care to expound on that?


Jesus Christ on a fucking pogo stick.

Also, you might consider the political forces that stopped Patton's Third Army from moving further east as described, for example, by Victor Hanson in "The Soul of Battle."

Lewis Wetzel said...

YoungHegelian wrote:
"I'm piling up sources, because, if health & energy permits, come retirement I'm seriously considering going back & finishing my PhD in philosophy with a dissertation on Giovanni Gentile."
He was just finishing what Garibaldi started. The end point of nationalism is fascism, just as the end point of Marxism is Marxism-Leninism.

Chuck said...

John Henry when was the last time I mentioned a Trump-corporation's Chapter 11 on this blog? I actually don't even remember doing it myself, but it's possible. When, according to you, did I raise the issue last?

I raised Trump's lying about his copy of "My New Order" on this page, because Maureen Dowd raised it in the subject column, but Professor Althouse chose not to mention it.

But if you are still interested in Trump's bankruptcies from the time of the September debate when Trump referred to "the chapter laws"* that he used in connection with his incredibly (I'll say!) successful companies, here you go:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/431420/donald-trumps-2016-debate-lies-he-went-bankrupt

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

YH

The Doctrine of Fascism by Benito Mussolini is a short book 100 pages or so on what Fascism is and isn't. Anyone who says that Fascism (the Italian political party/ideology) is not socialist has obviously never read this book.


The other is Readings on Fascism and National Socialism selected by members of the Department of Philosophy University of Colorado.

You can buy them as Kindle books for a couple dollars. Both are also available for free download on the web. Just search the title.

I'd be interested in your bibliography. Drop me a note at johnfajardohenry (at) g mail (dot) com

John Henry

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

Chuck,

I think it was last week when you talked about how a Joe the Plumber was going to come forward. When I called you on it you said well maybe some unattractive bankers.

Might have been week before last.

I asked you then for names. Still waiting.

John Henry

CachorroQuente said...

"I asked you then for names. Still waiting. "

Many people got screwed in Trump's bankruptcies. That's the purpose. If you want a name, try J. Michael Diehl. He's a guy that Trump screwed over a sale of eight pianos.

Hagar said...

Chuck's feelings about Trump seem to be rather personal. Did Chuck or some relative(s) of his get run over in one of Trump's development schemes?
If so, he should tell us, so that we can know where he is coming from.

LYNNDH said...

I am rather tired of being called a racist because I have read 'Mein Kampf' (a very long haul). I read it in 1964 or so when I was a college freshman and interested in History and WW II. My college major was Modern European History (after I flunked out of engineering school). One of my best professors was Dr. Bruce Frye. He had been a young lieutenant in the Army at the tail end of the war. Since he spoke German he was made an intelligence officer. He told us students about going into some of the Concentration Camps, which came out of the mind that wrote 'Mein Kampf'. It was am important read for me.

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

Thanks for the link, Chuck. Nothing I've not seen in a dozen or more other articles I've found when searching in the past.

Doesn't answer the question, who got stiffed in the bankruptcies? As the article notes:

Trump proudly insists that he never has had recourse to Chapter 13, the personal bankruptcy code. This is his apparent justification for saying that he’s never been bankrupt. But of course one of the purposes of Chapter 11 bankruptcy is to keep men such as Donald Trump out of Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

Chapter 11 allows a company to keep operating. Its entire purpose is to keep companies from gong into, either voluntarily or being forced by creditors, Chapter 13 or other chapters where some or all of the creditors would get partially or completely stiffed.

So who got stiffed by Trump's Chapter 11 bankruptcies? I've never been able to find anyone.

John Henry

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

Cachorro,

Thanks for the link. I feel for Diehl, I've been in similar situations myself. Once had a principal who could not afford to pay me $25,000 he owed and offered me a take it or leave it piece. I finally worked out a deal, after threatening to sue, that got me the full amount paid over 18 months. I didn't like it any more than Diehl did.

Bristol Myers takes 90 days to pay me. But If I will knock something off the invoice, usually 10-12% they will pay much faster. I don't like that, either.

But all that is neither here nor there. What happened to Diehl had nothing at all to do with the bankruptcies.

http://www.newsweek.com/2015/10/30/trumps-big-atlantic-city-dump-385427.html

Caution, the article is by Nina Burleigh the presstitute who is best known for having publicly offered to give Bill Clinton a blow job.

It's also Newsweek. The magazine that sold for $1.00 a few years back.

John Henry

Laslo Spatula said...

The Slightly-Less-Than-Average-Intelligence Althouse Reader says:

I know you Smart People.

You know of Me, in the Abstract: I am Your Low Information Voter.

I don't believe I should have to follow every Minute Political Minuet and every Trapezoidal Political Posturing Du Jour to just say: I want Government to Just Function Without Me Noticing IT.

That's all.

Government should be like Air: I know I breathe it, but I don't get alarmed until the Farts Smell Like Gasping Choking Death.

But you Smart People: you can Calibrate the Fart Compressed Concentrate to a Gnat's Eyelash, figuring People like Me won't Notice that Latest Incremental Change: we will accept Choking on the Farts of the Elite as the New Normal. Hey, the Elites say: we made you Febreze!

Government should NOT be a Dutch Oven. Ever.

And I figure you don't get it.

Because you're Smart.

I am Laslo.

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

Just to round out the story, I kept selling for the principal. Why not? good machines that my clients like. Good company except that they had hit a rough patch.

Didn't have any other problems collecting my commissions when owed.

I wonder if Diehl kept selling pianos to Trump businesses? I would not be surprised either way.

John Henry

Chuck said...

John Henry; I don't know who the fuck you think you are, but I really don't think I ever mentioned "Joe the Plumber."

If you think I'm wrong, quote me and time the quote. Link it.

I did this with Fabi on some other unrelated thing he thought I wrote. He ended up apologizing when he was wrong, which is good on his part. He was entirely decent about it in the end.

chickelit said...

@Amanda, I fully expect you to be out blocking I-94 when Trump comes to Milwaukee.

chickelit said...

Amanda and Chuck are tipping the scales in favor of Trump one commenter at a time.

chickelit said...

Althouse wrote: Trump also told Dowd that "Hillary is the one disrupting my rallies. It’s more Hillary than Sanders, I found out," and...

It might be interesting to learn who is behind the roadblocks in AZ -- the ones blocking access to Trump rallies. I doubt very much that the stories will get further than Drudge.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

From the interview, Trump said, “All of these politicians have said far worse than that, drunk, standing in a corner.”

The great thing with Trump is that this is probably true. Maybe not the Mormons, but everyone else.

Laslo Spatula said...

7:25: I staked my claim.

Ryan, Romney et all are Dutch Oven Republicans.

Dutch Oven Republicans: feel free to inject into the System.

I am Laslo.

Laslo Spatula said...

On Bing Images I looked up "Naked Amanda", but I don't think any were our Amanda.

I also looked up "Naked Chuck," and many of the images could very possibly be him. Especially THAT one.

I looked up "Naked Beldar" but Shame prevents me from saying more.

I am Laslo.

Hagar said...

I have never read "Mein Kampf" and do not intend to.
What Hitler actually did was a subject of great general interest around me when I was a kid, and I later got to see some of the end results.
I will take the reviewers word for it that what he did is what he said he would do in the book.
And anyway, I understand it is very bad writing, even for a German, though not quite as bad as "Das Kapital."

Lewis Wetzel said...

chickelit said...
It might be interesting to learn who is behind the roadblocks in AZ -- the ones blocking access to Trump rallies. I doubt very much that the stories will get further than Drudge.
NPR says that the blockers were members of an immigrants rights group, and that, for some reason, these 'immigrants' are upset at Trumps anti-illegal-immigrant position. Gosh, I wonder why that would be?
NPR also called them 'protesters', when their goal was not to protest, but to stop people from attending the Trump rally. I wonder at what point NPR will stop calling them protesters? Maybe when they call in a bomb threat to disrupt political speech they don't like? Perhaps I should celebrate the great American tradition of protesting by blocking the road NPR employees use to get to their jobs?

Fabi said...

@Chuck: I make mistakes on a weekly basis and it's not at all life-threatening because I learn from each episode. Offering a mea culpa encapsulates an important part of that process: humility.

Drago said...

chickelit: "Amanda and Chuck are tipping the scales in favor of Trump one commenter at a time."

Well, "lifelong republican" Chuck is just doing what all lifelong conservative republicans do: linking to the Daily Show, Colbert, praising Maureen Dowd and the Atlantic mag, and referencing about a million other lifelong far left and lefty persons and sites.

As well as refusing to criticize Hillary as long as Trump is in the race.

You know, EXACTLY like how any "lifelong republican" and conservative would say and behave.

Exactly.

LOL

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

OK, Chuck,

Sorry, my mistake. It was JSD at 11:26 on 2/24 who 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.

Then, when I called him/her on it, backed off and said at 3:37

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

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2016/02/scott-adams-explains-his-master.html?showComment=1456334804051#c6700064381105883406

So, not you, Chuck. My apologies for misremembering.

John Henry

chickelit said...

Terry wrote: NPR says that the blockers were members of an immigrants rights group, and that, for some reason, these 'immigrants' are upset at Trumps anti-illegal-immigrant position.

Those people--whoever they are--are hurting the nevertrumpers far more than Trump. I can't wait to hear what Mr. Constitution and the other cruzadores have to say about it.

Chuck said...

Fabi, we all make mistakes. That makes you just like everybody else.

In my case, you were a stand-up guy, which makes you better than most.

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

Hagar,

I have heard, pretty much universally that Das Kapital is horrible writing. Even Lenin criticized it for style.

I agree that Marx is full of shit but I found Das Kapital pretty interesting (Penguin edition, maybe it's the translation?). I've read it 3 times since the 70s and have dipped back into it from time to time as well.

I've read other Marx works and speeches find them to be well written. He also wrote a series of articles on the American War Between the States for a newspaper that were extremely interesting.

I do agree with you about Mein kampf. Very difficult slog and horrible writing style.

Perhaps I just have odd tastes in my reading.

John Henry

traditionalguy said...

Books written by an enemy are required reading. They reveal an opponent's thinking. What is not required is Anti -Semitic accusations they often borrow for speeches like Hitler did his from Henry Ford and the Ivy League Eugenic Scientists so popular in the USA in the early 1900s. Those did major damage using mind control.

But study of Nazi Propaganda is needed to understand how to deal with Trump's political opponents that come from the German allied politicians and wealth transferring groups here during the First and Second World Wars, such as the Preston Bush Family fortune and the Catholic Kennedy Family fortune. Wars create mega wealth for some.

Trump is threatening to end the good old boys wealth trains. And understanding the Nazi attitudes behind them is American Presidency Training 101.

CachorroQuente said...

John Henry

Businesses do bankruptcy when they can't meet their financial obligations. Whenever there is a bankruptcy, somebody gets screwed -- that's the purpose, to get out of debt without actually having to pay off the debt in full. My understanding is that the major debt in Trump's first bankruptcy was bond debt and the bond holders got less than the value of the bonds. In other words, they got screwed. Same thing happened to bond holders in the bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler; bond holders got screwed. In the GM case, many of those bondholders were ordinary people. Chrysler debt was held, as I understand it, exclusively by institutions, pension funds, etc. So, they were the ones taking the screwing.

"Caution, the article is by Nina Burleigh the presstitute who is best known for having publicly offered to give Bill Clinton a blow job.

"It's also Newsweek. The magazine that sold for $1.00 a few years back."

I don't understand why people make arguments like that. It looks an awful lot like an example of the ad hominem fallacy -- attacking something about the messenger which has absolutely nothing to do with the argument rather than attacking the argument. The total value of the Newsweek business and the proclivity of the writer to give blow jobs have absolutely nothing to do with whether or not Trump screwed the piano man.

Lewis Wetzel said...

"Don't vote for Trump! He is a liar! A big ol' liar! Vote for Hillary instead!"
Nope. Still can't get my head around it.

Fabi said...

I'm rather curious about that myself, chickelit. The agitators not only broke traffic laws, but were actively depriving people from engaging in their protected first amendment right to peacefully assemble.

Too bad our government doesn't have an agency that takes an interest in violations of this nature. /sarc

chickelit said...

The agitators not only broke traffic laws, but were actively depriving people from engaging in their protected first amendment right to peacefully assemble.

That's why I wrote just a few minutes earlier that I'm interested in Cruz's reaction given his interest in the Constitution and out of a spirit of unity.

CachorroQuente said...

"And anyway, I understand it is very bad writing, even for a German, though not quite as bad as "Das Kapital."

Maybe because Hitler's native language was Austrian. Or, maybe Australian.

Too bad he wasn't a better artist. Or paper hanger.

Fabi said...

You and I share the most important goal, Chuck -- keeping Hillary out of the White House. We disagree about strategies and tactics, especially regarding Trump, but there's probably no correct answer in this current unchartered political dynamic. If we met on the golf course having never engaged online, we'd probably have a great time -- but if you're carrying a 9.7, you might kick my ass. lol

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

So now Donnie's taking to accusing other people's lives of being based on a fraud. Good to know. Thanks, Don.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Hagar said: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend;" hence Trump.

Somewhere in India, Kautilya just rolled over in his grave. Well, he was most likely cremated, so I guess somewhere in India, his ashes just convulsed. Then again, he would indeed recognize Trump's type and many of his methods. So do you think The Donald has read the Arthashashtra?

Anonymous said...

No, I doubt anybody would be influenced to vote for Trump by any anti Trump sentiment, don't buy it. I'm pretty sure Trump was your guy long before anybody spoke out against him.

And this:
Blogger Fabi said...
"@Chuck: I make mistakes on a weekly basis and it's not at all life-threatening because I learn from each episode. Offering a mea culpa encapsulates an important part of that process: humility."

Boy that's rich coming from the guy who just last week bragged and guffawed how he duped Chuck into spending hours looking for comments" in to which prove to him that it wasn't he, Chuck, that made Hitler/Trump comparisons. I recall how he was "LULZ"ing. I wouldn't be so sure Fabi is such a stand up guy. Perhaps Chuck, you missed that comment of Fabi's to me about a week ago after I said it was nice that he apologized to you, when you proved to him you hadn't made Trump Hitler references. He claims he didn't mean a word of the apology to you Chuck.

Anonymous said...

Blogger Terry said...

"Don't vote for Trump! He is a liar! A big ol' liar! Vote for Hillary instead!"
Nope. Still can't get my head around it.

3/19/16, 8:18 PM

Many of us who are railing against Trump hope and pray that those are not our only options. After all, Trump does not have the Republican nomination just yet, does he? He may have the clearest path, but some of us still stubbornly cling to the notion that he can be stopped. And if not, I will follow the example Mitt Romney suggested he would set by voting for the first time in my life for a third-party candidate for President. I can point out that Trump is a liar, a cheat, a scoundrel, and a short-fingered vulgarian without supporting Hillary OR Bernie.

chickelit said...

Amanda said...No, I doubt anybody would be influenced to vote for Trump by any anti Trump sentiment, don't buy it. I'm pretty sure Trump was your guy long before anybody spoke out against him.

Amanda, I meant that you were as clueless as the people blocking traffic in AZ. You mean well, but you can't back off far enough to see what you're doing.

Fabi said...

That was only directed at you, Amanda. Sorry that I'm so far under your skin that you're unable to detect sarcasm or satire. As much as I disagree with Chuck, I still appreciate his non-Trump assessments. You, on the other hand, remain a simple loser. Perhaps you should disengage or simply mind your own business. Lulz

Anonymous said...

If you give the nomination to Kasich, you'll have more crossover voting than you can imagine. But I doubt any of you realize what a decent man Kasich is and you probably don't like him precisely for that reason. Seems like the "strong man" imagery is much more appealing to many on the right. And then there is the issue of the "riots" that Trump may incite if he doesn't get the nomination.

Anonymous said...

No Fabi, you were bragging about how you had Chuck on a wild goose chase, now be "honorable" and own up to it and apologize to Chuck for laughing your ass off at him. You're hardly "under my skin", you're not that important, but I do find you reprehensible.

Fabi said...

You really are that stupid, aren't you, Amanda? You can't assess nuance or direction, yet you continue to beclown yourself.

You laughably claim that I'm not under your skin, yet you've dug back through the comments to unearth something I've said, and then again commented re: the same. Up your game, sweetie. You're way out of your league.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The sad thing is, even Kasich isn't the greatest guy in the world. And yet still a hell of a lot more decent than any of the others.

But that's just not what the right is in for these days. They want absolutism. Either the ideological absolutism of the GOP elite or the personally narcissistic absolutism of Drumpf.

That's the sort of clarity they're all about at present.

Once the curtain closes it will have been a hell of an entertaining implosion to watch. I wish someone would script a play of it all with no words (just plenty of operatic gestures and silent open-mouth vocal solos) and Flight of the Valkyries playing in the background. At least for Drumpf's parts.

Anonymous said...

No Fabi, it's you who are stupid for thinking that you can manipulate decent people like Chuck into trusting you at your word. You are dishonorable and Chuck should be aware that you bragged how you manipulated him.

Anonymous said...

I just hope the country survives Rhythm and Balls. I think they want to see it burn down.

Anonymous said...

Amanda posts too much. But I know how it is, being a lone voice in the wilderness, the few cluster together, incessantly agreeing with each other.

Kasich, what a laugh. Bought and paid for, that's why he's defrauding voters by pretending he has a chance, depending on fooling the low-infos.

Just another crook. Bankster, on top of that. Gee golly whillickers. Yet another Dutch Oven Republican.

"I think they want to see it burn down." The political establishment? You're damn right we do.

Fabi said...

Still under your very thin skin, I see, Amanda! Bark for me, moron: woof, woof! Lulz

Anonymous said...

Oh I made you angry, didn't I Fabi? You are a reprehensible dishonorable man and I have taken great pleasure in revealing it.

Anonymous said...

Burn down your Republican Establishment all you want TCom, just make sure you keep your fire contained. The rest of us don't want to see our country in flames.

Fabi said...

I couldn't be laughing any louder, sweetie! The only anger in evidence is your projection, so please continue to stew in your own juices, Amanda. I'll let you have the last word -- I'm sure that's important to your fragile identity. Lulz

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Mitt Romney was a decent man, Amanda.
You called him a racist, you called him a sexist, you called him a bigot, you called him heartless, you said be was to blame for a woman's death (from cancer), you said he was an animal abuser, you called him a bully, and you said he was dangerous.
You called him a lair, a theif, and a con man.

You won! He badly lost a winnable election.

No one, and I mean no one, believes any of you Leftists when you disengenuously praise a Republican. No one beleieves you would treat Kasich fairly if he were the Repub. nominee. You'd be calling him Hitler or KKKasich and we all know it.

Ritmo Re-Animated said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I said all those things Hoody Doody? I wasn't even commenting here at Althouse back then, lol!

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I just hope the country survives Rhythm and Balls. I think they want to see it burn down.

The country =/= The Republican Party.

It shows how strong their power and propaganda is that people assume America's priorities and interests are perfectly aligned by some Republican, somewhere.

The candidate with whom more Americans would agree than any other is actually Bernie Sanders.

Years of politics aimed at gerrymandering and taking over state governments have convinced people that Buckley was George Washington.

They don't know how to get past it and must apparently be rallied by a guy who is old enough to actually remember that FDR won more terms in office than any other president, scaring the Republicans so badly that they got a constitutional amendment passed to term-limit our best presidents.

These are the American people's true values. Once given voice by someone outspoken enough to put them to words, they make their agreement clear.

They have their own "silent majority", too. A pretty damn big one, at that.

Big Mike said...

The rest of us don't want to see our country in flames.

I call bullshit! The Left has never wanted anything other than seeing this country in flames. You firebugs are the disease; Trump and Cruz are the cures.

Anonymous said...

R&B,
Sanders is my first choice. I would vote for Kasich only if Hillary gets the nomination and I would vote for Hillary ONLY if Trump gets the nomination. I still think Hillary is not as evil or dangerous as Herr Drumpf.

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

Amanda wrote: Don't want Chickelit to get his feathers ruffled.

You never really do that. We'd probably even get along IRL. :)
__________________

@R&B: What was that comment at 7:19 by "Ritmo Reanimated" (now deleted). Were you trying on an old costume?

HoodlumDoodlum said...

You said it all, Amanda, and you cheered when it worked. Collective guilt is back in fashion! You helped make that happen, too.

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

Blogger CachorroQuente said...

Businesses do bankruptcy when they can't meet their financial obligations.

yes and no.

Look up what Chapter 11 bankruptcy is.

Under Chapter 11 Bankruptcy the business is fundamentally OK but facing cash flow problems (mainly). Under Chapter 11, creditors cannot sue and cannot put the firm into regular bankruptcy.

Either the business, under reorganization and court supervision, gets its act together and pays off all the creditors or it goes into one of the other chapters where the business is liquidated. and the proceeds divided among the creditors.

Much more complex that than, actually, but the key is that creditors get paid, in full, if a bit late. In some of Trump's bankruptcies they got paid in the form of increased equity and control but they got paid.

Unless you can point to someone who didn't.

John Henry

Lewis Wetzel said...

"Vote for Hillary! Because the other guy is Hitler!"
Nope, can't get my head around that, either.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

What's your problem, Bruce? Chill out.

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

I don't understand why people make arguments like that. It looks an awful lot like an example of the ad hominem fallacy -- attacking something about the messenger which has absolutely nothing to do with the argument rather than attacking the argument. The total value of the Newsweek business and the proclivity of the writer to give blow jobs have absolutely nothing to do with whether or not Trump screwed the piano man.

But they do have something to do with the objectivity of the writer. If she is willing to publicly say she would blow Bill Clinton, how objective will she be about his wife's opponent?

The $1 comment about Newsweek also goes to their credibility as a source.

John Henry

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

Re Trump as Hitler:

Do all you folks really believe that he would set up death camps and murder 12mm people?

OTOH, Sanders is a declared "socialist" it is not even clear that he is a member of the Democrat party, even today.

Socialists, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, a slew of Africans, murdered 100mm in the 20th century.

Socialists, in the USA, today, say they wish someone would murder Donald Trump.

Murder, it is the socialist way of dealing with anyone who does not embrace them wholeheartedly. Emphasis on them. You have to be sure they embrace the right kind of socialism

So who is more likely to be the mass murderer: Trump or Sanders? Based on history and their political ideals.

Hmmm?

John Henry

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Please try to retain some consistency when insulting and characterizing Trump, everyone!

If he is a moron he can't also be a brilliant con man.
If he is a swindler who repeatedly ripped off smart rich people and gained from it he can't also be a terrible deal maker who smart people never trust (and who stinks at business).
If he is poorly read he can't also have a deep and subtle understanding of relatively obscure literature.
If he doesn't put thought into anything he says and just makes it up as he goes along he can't also constantly dog-whistle and intentionally surreptitiously reference dangerous themes and ideas.

Don't argue with yourselves. Pick and stick!

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Amanda says "Protest is the American way."
I say shutting down someone's event and preventing them from speaking isn't protest.
Amanda wants to define all sorts of behavior, probably i cluding some violent behavior, as protest.
I say whatever Amanda calls protest must be done against all Democrat candidates from now on, since protest is the American way and I am a true American.
We will not allow Amanda to redefine "protest" later...that would be downright unAmerican!

chickelit said...

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...OTOH, Sanders is a declared "socialist" it is not even clear that he is a member of the Democrat party, even today.

Socialists, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, a slew of Africans, murdered 100mm in the 20th century.


American Socialists ran the city of Milwaukee for 60 years -- most of them even had German ancestry. I don't recall any murders or death camps during that time.

buwaya said...

In reply to Amanda,
I am a foreigner, a resident alien for 30 years.

Anonymous said...

Puti,
A resident alien for 30 years?! Living here in the states? Why haven't you become a citizen?

chickelit said...

I love resident aliens -- I'm married to one. It's the aliens who think they're entitled to waltz in and jump the queue who bother me. I suspect most Trump people concur. Why is that so difficult?

CachorroQuente said...

"Much more complex that than, actually, but the key is that creditors get paid, in full, if a bit late. In some of Trump's bankruptcies they got paid in the form of increased equity and control but they got paid."

You and I have a difference of understanding as to the results of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. My understanding is that the creditors acquiesce to taking a "haircut" because forcing liquidation would be worse. My understanding is based on experience. Getting equity interest in a troubled company doesn't make up for reduced interest payments and reduced repayment of principal. Here's an article from 1991 explaining why Trump's creditors accepted the Chap 11 reorganization rather than force liquidation. Note that Dixie-Narco Inc. decided to take a "haircut" which made the Chap 11 agreement possible and prevented liquidation.

Here's one assessment of the Trump bankruptcies.

I think the assessment of the 1991 bankruptcy in that article is too kind to Trump. Best I can tell, the bondholders gave up $27 million per year in interest payments for five years and received in exchange an equity interest that was worth $40 million after five years. That is indeed a "haircut" and is not being paid in full. (reducing interest from 14% to 10% on $675 million is $27 million/year)

Anonymous said...

Why live in this country legally for so many years and not become a citizen?

Ken B said...

Amanda, let me paraphrase you."Fuck off foreigner."
Chuck, let me paraphrase you. "You are what you read."

CachorroQuente said...

"But they do have something to do with the objectivity of the writer. If she is willing to publicly say she would blow Bill Clinton, how objective will she be about his wife's opponent?"

Even if her comment about humming Bill was serious (I doubt it, but I don't have any previous recollection of this writer) it doesn't seem that it would prevent her from writing accurately and fairly about Trump. Hell, if we couldn't trust cocksuckers we wouldn't have many people to trust


"The $1 comment about Newsweek also goes to their credibility as a source."

I don't get that, either. Does Newsweek have a history of publishing made-up stories or of supporting points of view with bullshit masquerading as fact? I understand that any published account of anything needs to be viewed with skepticism, particularly when you are dealing with an organ well known for having bias, but we are talking about Newsweek rather than something like Whirled Nuts Daily or Alex Jones or Mother Jones (no relation, I'm sure) or the Nation or Washington Times or Breitbart.

CachorroQuente said...

"Do all you folks really believe that he would set up death camps and murder 12mm people?"

Probably not; unless he could figure out a way to make money on the deal. Okay, that's a bit of hyperbole. I doubt that Trump is that evil.

"So who is more likely to be the mass murderer: Trump or Sanders? Based on history and their political ideals."

I'm not fearful of Sanders being a mass murderer for a couple reasons. One, Sanders's socialism is much closer to the socialism of Sweden, modern France, and modern Germany than to the socialism of Red China (when it was still Red as opposed to just China) and USSR. Two, there is no way in Hell Sanders is ever going to have a position of actual influence in our government; he is just a serial wanker.

Trump, in contrast, has advocated for the commission of war crimes. He is, in my opinion, morally unsuited for a position of authority within our government.

CachorroQuente said...

Amanda:"Why live in this country legally for so many years and not become a citizen?"

I used to work for an international company, then I retired. I worked with a lot of foreigners that had worked in the US for a long, long time and had no desire to become American citizens. It seemed perfectly ok to me that an Italian or German or Frenchman would want to live and work in the US for a long time without converting from their previous nationality. It's not only Americans who love their country and hold their nationality dear.

cubanbob said...

Amazing so many people here would rather have a criminal and a traitor as president than a blowhard. So i pose this to them just exactly does a traitor and a criminal uphold the constitution and faithfully execute the laws from a prison cell?

buwaya said...

It's a good question. I simply never saw the need to I suppose.
I'm married to an native (Mexican-Anglo) and the kids are US-born, so it's not like I can easily wander off elsewhere.
I come from a society of expats, people who parked themselves in a country for a generation or two and then moved as fortune took them. At heart I'm still an expat.

buwaya said...

Andrew Jackson actually committed war crimes, besides killing a man in a duel.
And, if anyone wanted to put together a bill of indictment of the various characters who have served in that office, quite a lot of odd things would come up. It seems to me the moderns are a rather squeamish lot.
If Andrew Jackson could be President, why not Trump?

CachorroQuente said...

"If Andrew Jackson could be President, why not Trump?"

That's a brilliant question sort of like:

Thomas Jefferson owned and bred slaves and was President of the United States. If Jefferson could be president then why not David Duke?

Or better still:

Andrew Jackson owned slaves and was president. Why can't Trump, if elected, own slaves?

Lewis Wetzel said...

Sometimes I am not certain of people really understand how democracy works.
All of our institutions serve the people, not fashionable, high-minded ideals. If the people elect Hillary, knowing that she compromised intelligence by mishandling state secrets, who is the FBI or the JD to prosecute her? We live in a country where the people rule, not the FBI or the JD. Where would their authority to prosecute come from? A career bureaucrat?

Achilles said...

CachorroQuente said...

"Even if her comment about humming Bill was serious (I doubt it, but I don't have any previous recollection of this writer) it doesn't seem that it would prevent her from writing accurately and fairly about Trump. Hell, if we couldn't trust cocksuckers we wouldn't have many people to trust."

The core issue of bias is that the person who suffers bias is unaware of the bias. You are biased and you are unaware of various media bias because it just seems like common sense to you. It is your complete inability to see things from another persons point of view that limits you.

"I don't get that, either. Does Newsweek have a history of publishing made-up stories or of supporting points of view with bullshit masquerading as fact?"

Yes, yes they do.

Achilles said...

Amanda said...
"Why live in this country legally for so many years and not become a citizen?"

Is this the moment where Amanda realizes she has only talked to a very small circle of people and has a very limited world view?

You might want to talk to some actual minorities. I have. My in-laws are naturalized from Hong Kong and they were actually watching political debates. If you knew this community you would realize how fundamental an event this is. And guess what is different in this campaign.

The Hispanic community is also going to surprise you. The actual community that is out here working mind you and not the La Raza types that are on college campuses. When the Mexican Cartels do there work up here it is the legal Hispanic community that they go after. Guess who they support.

CachorroQuente said...

"The core issue of bias is that the person who suffers bias is unaware of the bias."

No, that's not the "core issue of bias."

"You are biased and you are unaware of various media bias because it just seems like common sense to you."

I admit that I have biases and I'm aware of what those biases are. I am also aware of biases in the media.

"It is your complete inability to see things from another persons point of view that limits you."

That's just a fucking bizarre statement.

The question at hand: A Newsweek report identified a named individual as having been screwed over by Trump in Atlantic City in the days leading up to Trump's 1991 bankruptcy. Is the report unbelievable, should we discount it because the reporter suggested she would suck Bill Clinton? Is the reputation of Newsweek such that we shouldn't believe that this named individual was screwed by Trump? Is bias on the part of Newsweek and this reporter such that this report is not good evidence of Trump screwing named, identifiable people through his business dealings?

Your response to those questions appears to be "bias, bias, bias" with no understanding of how bias works or is manifested, demonstrating an abysmal failure to think critically and non-fallaciously.

You may now continue with your intellectual onanism without my interference.

Sammy Finkelman said...

Interesting that Trump corrected from ssying Sanders to Hillary. Maybe it's too obvious and sanders ios out calling him a pathological liar.

Sammy Finkelman said...

About the disruptions at Trump rallies - where now Corey Lewadowski has been caught in the act again, by the way.

All of this is Trump at his own rallies (where he’s actually trying to do something wrong, but just a little wrong, just enough so that he gets the opposition of the media and a lot of other people, so he can look like he’s all alone – the only good person running – to his supporters, without alienating other people too much)

But what the protesters are trying to do is shut him down, thereby being part of the totalitarian left.

It’s not that the organizers feel that Trump is so bad, or so illegitimate as a political igure that he must be shut down – it’s that they feel that they can indirectly convince others that Trump is illegitimate as a political figure because they are trying to shut him down.

Now, shutting down other people’s meetings is worse than responding improperly to people who attempt to disrupt your own meetings. So between Trump and the protesters, the protesters are teh worse problem in American politics.

Besides, also, the protesters are lying, – they are trying to depict Trump as a racist, rather than a countryist using a lot of the tropes of racism. i.e. one person, or a few people, in a category is bad, so they are all bad, or at least they deserve to be all discriminated against.

There is also as well a tendency to overgeneralize about Moslems, and perpetual misstatements of facts, and a economic philosophy based on creating and preserving economic rents.

Sammy Finkelman said...

eddie willers said...3/19/16, 3:19 PM

"Is Hillary mean? I'm telling you folks, don't go walking around Fort Marcy Park, OK?"

The thing that is near Ft. Marcy Park, is the Saudi Arabian Ambassador's residence across the street, which was often used for business. There were briefcases scattered around, which Prince Bandar claimed contained secret files, but more probably contained money.

On July 20, 1993, it was undergoing renovations, and the Ambassador had temporarily moved next door.


PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

Blogger chickelit said...

American Socialists ran the city of Milwaukee for 60 years -- most of them even had German ancestry. I don't recall any murders or death camps during that time.

What does German have to do with it? The German National Socialists only murdered 12mm. The other 88mm or so were murdered by Chinese, Russian, African, Chinese, Cuban, Cambodian and other ethnicities.

In any event there are a couple distinguishing features of Milwaukee that make it different from Russia, China et al:

1) The potential victims are free to flee if the socialists try to forcibly convert them. They don't even have to flee very far, just outside city limits.

2) If the socialists in Milwaukee got too bloodthirsty the state and federal governments would step in and put the kibosh on it.

So, no power and no physical control. That is the main reason there were no death camps in Milwaukee.

John Henry