Althouse: Donald Trump tweets that it's "not worth it."

February 2, 2016

Donald Trump tweets that it's "not worth it."

"I don't believe I have been given any credit by the voters for self-funding my campaign, the only one. I will keep doing, but not worth it!"

ADDED: I guess a second poll is needed:

101 comments:

Witness said...: Has he actually paid for anything yet?

Hard to say you're self-funding when your campaign is based on getting free media attention.; 2/2/16, 1:23 PM
Oso Negro said...: What the fuck more needs to be known by Trump supporters? Do you want a man who thinks it is "not worth it"? Time to go back to real estate and reality TV!; 2/2/16, 1:24 PM
Oso Negro said...: If you truly have the ego to believe that the country needs saving and YOU are the person to do it, you had better be all in. Donald is a dilettante.; 2/2/16, 1:25 PM
Oso Negro said...: THIS is the moment that The Donald has at last jumped the shark.; 2/2/16, 1:26 PM
Original Mike said...: He gets virtually all his media exposure for free. FoxNews is All Donald, All The Time.; 2/2/16, 1:26 PM
Steve M. Galbraith said...: Hell, get Mexico to fund your campaign.

Good luck with that one, though. I mean, really good luck.

This is a man who's going to save America, we're near the end. Says his supporters.

Yet their man isn't sure it's worth it. But he truly cares about saving us from the end. Reconcile that one Trump supporters.; 2/2/16, 1:30 PM
Amexpat said...: He may pull a Palin. Give up when the going gets tough and try to spin it as a great personal sacrifice for the public good.; 2/2/16, 1:32 PM
Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: I don't believe I have been given any credit by the voters for self-funding my campaign...

And you deserve "credit" for this because...?

I will keep doing, but not worth it!

Then why are you doing it? Please explain.

Hey, Dude, it's your money. Have at it. Enjoy. Or not.; 2/2/16, 1:33 PM
Lance said...: No, no, you've all got it wrong. See Donald Trump works in three dimensions. You're all thinking this is the whiny complaint of an overextended scam artist, but really it's the most brilliant maneuver of a media-savvy hypnotist. See with both Cruz and Rubio riding high today, Trump needed a way to turn the attention back to himself, so what better way than to point out his own weakness? See it's brilliant: by whining that he's not getting enough attention, the media give him the attention he needs so he doesn't have to spend more of his casino stash on town hall meetings and TV ads. Brilliant!; 2/2/16, 1:34 PM
Meade said...: "Brilliant!"

Yes, blindingly.; 2/2/16, 1:39 PM
FullMoon said...: Witness said... [hush][hide comment]

Has he actually paid for anything yet?

Hard to say you're self-funding when your campaign is based on getting free media attention.
Genius comment! All expenses paid by magic, haha! Wait, maybe he can write all expense off his taxes, that makes it free. That's the ticket, it's all a write off.; 2/2/16, 1:50 PM
mccullough said...: Trump is very funny. He has a real talent for this stuff. People praised Jon Stewart or Colbert but Trump is miles ahead. He's serious and joking at the same time and showing people that he realizes he's serious and joking at the same time.

It is pretty brilliant.; 2/2/16, 1:50 PM
robother said...: I imagine the harsh reality that Trump is confronting today is the need for a ground game in each of the following primary states. While its true that his mastery of the news cycle has meant that he doesn't need the huge expenditures on ads, the salaries and overhead of a ground game he can't replace with free publicity. He's either gonna have to put serious money (half billion) of his own up, abandon his no large contributions position or fold.; 2/2/16, 1:50 PM
FullMoon said...: Blogger Amexpat said...

He may pull a Palin. Give up when the going gets tough and try to spin it as a great personal sacrifice for the public good.
Good one ! Fresh as the morning dew! As original as a Picasso.; 2/2/16, 1:52 PM
Original Mike said...: "See Donald Trump works in three dimensions."

Huh? As opposed to the rest of us?; 2/2/16, 1:54 PM
FullMoon said...: Blogger robother said...

I imagine the harsh reality that Trump is confronting today is the need for a ground game in each of the following primary states. While its true that his mastery of the news cycle has meant that he doesn't need the huge expenditures on ads, the salaries and overhead of a ground game he can't replace with free publicity. He's either gonna have to put serious money (half billion) of his own up, abandon his no large contributions position or fold.
Exactly correct. He needs to pull an Obama and get some public money. Maybe game the system and end up making a profit somehow, then be investigated by Hillary/Bernie IRS.; 2/2/16, 1:54 PM
mccullough said...: Twitter is Trump's GOTV operation; 2/2/16, 2:00 PM
Anne in Rockwall, TX said...: It means absolutely nothing. It's just Trump talking in his usual stream of consciousness, rambling, non-linear, often non-thinking way.; 2/2/16, 2:02 PM
gadfly said...: Trump has a problem because he made a big deal about other candidates taking PAC money. Now with a long and expensive campaign ahead just in the primary, his narcissism got the best of him. After all, why is he spending only his own money when there are fools out there willing to pick up the tab.

So the spin has begun and the Trump hoards will send money in by the bushel.; 2/2/16, 2:06 PM
mccullough said...: Trump is accepting donations but he's not out fundraising or soliciting. 72% of his donations are $200 and under.

He'd be happy if he gets more and also happy to turn attention that guys like Rubio are on conference calls with their wealthy financial backers. Bernie Sanders will point out the same about Hillary.; 2/2/16, 2:12 PM
eric said...: This is his first salvo to soften the defenses. It means he is going to start taking cash.

He realizes now that he can't win on it being just a popularity contest. He also has to have solid organization and a ground game.

This tweet is him saying, I'm going to start asking for money to help me. It's not worth spending my own money, but it'll be worth it if you all help.

What about the inevitable criticism that he won't belong to lobbyists? I'm going to guess he will start small. Only agreeing to take donations of $100 or less, to say, this is the peoples money. I belong to no one.; 2/2/16, 2:15 PM
Writ Small said...: Just yesterday, Althouse mocked the article ""Why I still believe Donald Trump will never be president." http://althouse.blogspot.com/2016/01/why-there-are-so-many-things-with.html

James Taranto over at Best of the Web did likewise (it is common to see Taranto piggy-back on to Althouse critiques with his own spin). http://www.wsj.com/articles/very-much-like-benghazi-1454353593 (Scroll down)

Neither the Althouse nor Taranto addressed the central contention of the piece. Namely that Trump's core personality trait will make adapting to setbacks and expanding his appeal nearly impossible.

" . . .personalities do not change overnight. Narcissistic personality disorder is not a strategy; it's a condition.

And it is not going to wear well over the long course of a presidential election. In a general campaign, Trump will not be surrounded by supplicants like he's accustomed to. He won't be able to skip debates and bully journalists for an entire election. He will be put under intense stress and scrutiny, forced to improvise answers to difficult questions that he doesn't get to choose.

And when he's pushed he'll lash out, again and again, and eventually people will notice that lashing out is all he's capable of. He'll face setbacks, and people will notice that arrogant bluster sounds a little tinny and desperate coming from someone who's down.

People will see his personality on display in circumstances not of his choosing, for the first time. And they'll recoil. . ."

This is stated more dramatically than I would have put it, but ask yourself if Donald's "not worth it" tweet supports the Vox piece or Althouse's argument of yesterday that Trump can smoothly alter his style.; 2/2/16, 2:15 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: He should get out and go help his pal Hillary.; 2/2/16, 2:23 PM
Tank said...: Are you guys talking about Trump?; 2/2/16, 2:28 PM
Steve M. Galbraith said...: . He won't be able to skip debates and bully journalists for an entire election. He will be put under intense stress and scrutiny, forced to improvise answers to difficult questions that he doesn't get to choose.

When the field gets smaller the debates become more substantive and less of an attempt by minor candidates to attack other minor ones to move up. Personalities and one liners become less important and substance and details tend to dominate. More time is spent on issues since there are fewer candidates to interject their points into a discussion.

When that happens Trump's emptiness, his sloganeering, his bumper sticker candidacy will fall apart. He didn't know what the nuclear triad was, he knows nothing about the constitution, and even less about how to get his proposals through the legislative process.

When he's exposed he'll pick up his toys and go home. The sooner the better.

Now his supporters? It will be interesting to see what they do. Most of them have legitimate complaints - some are just awful nativist and xenophobic cranks (I said some) - and their concerns need to be addressed. Who can best do that will be the question. I assume Cruz but you never know.; 2/2/16, 2:28 PM
Earnest Prole said...: Trump sounds like a loser in this tweet, and if he’s learned anything in forty years as a businessman, it’s how to cut his losses and not throw good money after bad; 2/2/16, 2:35 PM
madAsHell said...: He didn't know what the nuclear triad was, he knows nothing about the constitution, and even less about how to get his proposals through the legislative process.

The same description could be applied to Obama....and don't fool yourself into thinking Obama knew about the nuclear triad. Hell, he can't even pronounce "corpsman" correctly. In fact, I'll bet this could describe Hillary, Bernie, and perhaps others.; 2/2/16, 2:49 PM
Brando said...: This is Trump we're talking about, so his statement means anything or nothing, depending on whatever whim hits him next. Maybe he'll take PAC money, and justify it as "from the good PACs, not the ones that try to buy government" or he'll only accept small donations, or maybe let his campaign accept big donor money and claim he never accepted big donor money, only his campaign did, sort of like how he never declared bankruptcy, only his businesses did. And whatever he does, his fans will applaud his brilliance and argue that Trump is smart enough to change course when it is wise to do so, even though Obama was a scumbag for doing the same thing eight years ago.

Or, it could mean nothing, and Trump is going to continue to use free media and put no effort into a ground game. It may be enough to win primaries, or at least score well in them.; 2/2/16, 2:51 PM
n.n said...: Whether they realize it or not, people are voting for special interests. Trump's fiscal independence may isolate him from their influence, but the return on investment has been diminished by people who continue to vote for the abortion industry, "planning" industry, excessive/illegal immigration, "green" industry, social [justice] complex, chauvinistic movements, and, of course, redistributive change. Trump is determined to stay the course in order to save Americans from their representatives and pseudo-Americans from themselves.; 2/2/16, 2:55 PM
Bob Loblaw said...: Dumb thing to say. Sounds too much like whining, for which the voters will definitely give you negative credit.; 2/2/16, 3:05 PM
Levi Starks said...: His assertion cannot be proven or disproven, since there is no control group.
It's equally possible that he would have done much worse if his campaign was not self funded.; 2/2/16, 3:07 PM
Hagar said...: With Trump, it probably does not mean whatever you think it means.; 2/2/16, 3:12 PM
mccullough said...: Trump's speech last night was gracious. Short and sweet. Like anyone running for President, he is playing a character. And his character has many modes. His main approach is the one from this tweet -- funny and self centered. He has the funny and asshole mode and the funny and angry mode. And he has the gracious mode. I only watched the first season of the Apprentice but Trump has many aspects to his public persona. The "You're Fired" persona might be the best remembered but a lot of people he had to send off the show he delivered that line tenderly and with regret.

The dude contains multitudes so it would be good if he stays in the race until the end.; 2/2/16, 3:23 PM
wildswan said...: I bought myself with my own money and it turned out I wasn't worth it but I'm going to keep on doing it.; 2/2/16, 3:30 PM
wildswan said...: Because if he had been bought by big donors they might be dumping him as happened to some others after last night. And if he had bought himself but was somebody else he might have said the other one wasn't worth it; but he himself is. See what I mean?; 2/2/16, 3:33 PM
Unknown said...: I find myself wondering if the constant stream of ambiguity and repetition from Trump is his struggling to apply the phrases "We will win" and "we will stop losing" to substantive ideas; or if said ambiguity demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of just how unimportant the content of his words are in comparison to his tone and body language.

Something tells me he doesn't know much about neuro-linguistic programming or hypnotism.; 2/2/16, 3:40 PM
clint said...: Donald Trump was entertaining on the way up.

He will be considerably less so on the way down.

And yet we won't be able to look away.; 2/2/16, 3:49 PM
Michael K said...: "Hell, he can't even pronounce "corpsman" correctly. In fact, I'll bet this could describe Hillary, Bernie, and perhaps others."

Since Webb and Sam Nunn left, I doubt there is a Democrat who knows which end of a gun the bullet comes out.; 2/2/16, 3:56 PM
Chuck said...: Trump is perfect for Twitter, and Twitter is perfect for him.

I mean that in the most unflattering way possible.

Of course, at a more serious level, one of the very worst of Trump's many failings as a conservative and as a Republican is his populist/liberal embrace of the kind of campaign finance "reform" that Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton also adore; some sort of constitutional end run around the First Amendment's basic protection of speech as was held in Citizens United v. FEC.; 2/2/16, 4:00 PM
Earnest Prole said...: After the Primary of 1 February
The Republican Candidate Donald Trump
Had tweets distributed nationwide
Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the Donald
And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts.

(with apologies to Bertolt Brecht); 2/2/16, 4:02 PM
Matt said...: I think Trump wants out. When he first announced his candidacy I think he did it for fun. Suddenly it's getting serious. What will he do!?; 2/2/16, 4:09 PM
Skeptical Voter said...: Starting to feel like a loser there Chump?--er Trump.; 2/2/16, 5:09 PM
Robert Cook said...: I knew Trump had no real desire or intent to become President. This whole thing was a prank or an ego trip or something. Over time, his statements have become ever more crazy--and he is not crazy or stupid--so it seemed he was trying to destroy the support that seemed to be growing for him regardless of what he said or did.

Now that he can claim he is spending all this money and not getting credit for this or that or the other and he didn't even place at number one, we can look for him to talk his way into quitting the race without looking like a quitter or loser.

This was a foregone conclusion.; 2/2/16, 5:11 PM
pm317 said...: whining already?; 2/2/16, 5:26 PM
mccullough said...: Part of Trump wants to be President and part of him doesn't want to be President. The percentage of each probably changes every five minutes as it does with every candidate and every president. Trump expresses it, which makes following this campaign season more interesting.

The most interesting thing from the 2008 campaign was Obama's leaked comment from a fundraiser about the bitter clingers and the most interesting thing about the 2012 campaign was Romney's leaked comment from a fundraiser about the 47%.

Trump says out loud on TV and through Twitter what other candidates say to their friends and family. His comments on paying off people like the Clintons because he has to do stuff like this to get by in business was priceless. He totally ripped Rick Perry for it as well.

And his personal insults to the rich and famous (candidates, media members, other politicians and public figures) are cruel humor, maybe the best kind.

Let's face it, McCain milked that POW experience for all it was worth and more through what appears to be fake humility. Trump's Patton-like response was priceless. Megyn Kelly is a bimbo and a third rate reporter. Muslims in the US did celebrate 9/11. Trump's guilty of some exaggeration, but hyperbole is part of the game.; 2/2/16, 5:43 PM
Paul said...: So Trump finishes second in the Iowa caucus and all you geniuses figure he's washed up and done for.

Really?; 2/2/16, 5:51 PM
jg said...: lol @ people failing the reading comprehension test (yes, the majority answer *is* the plain meaning - if trump meant otherwise, he was unclear); 2/2/16, 6:02 PM
jg said...: trump-haters are out in gleeful force here. interesting. his perceived [by some] inevitability took a hit but he for sure is a genuine candidate and has a reasonable (1 in 10? that's worth sticking with it for sure) chance of becoming President Trump.; 2/2/16, 6:05 PM
Achilles said...: A week ago nobody gave Trump a chance in Iowa now they are seeing a second place finish as the end of his campaign.

You people are delusional. Rubio is not going to win the nomination. He is a liar and a betrayer.

You are getting Trump or Cruz. Deal with it.; 2/2/16, 7:02 PM
Chuck said...: Achilles: "Rubio... is a liar and a betrayer."

Tell us exactly how. If it is on the immigration debate, be advised that my next post will quote Donald Trump on immigration, on a bout three separate occasions since 2001.; 2/2/16, 7:29 PM
Chuck said...: mcCullough: Part of the reason that Trump's bitching about McCain was so monstrous was the fact that McCain's POW record is as genuine and as heroic as any in modern American history. The other part that was so obscene was that Trump's own record with the Vietnam-era draft is such a freaking joke.

As for Megyn Kelly, give it up. We all know that Trump reactively attacks anyone who criticizes him. But we also know that Trump didn't bail out on the debate because of any claimed unfairness on the part of Megyn Kelly. Trump scooted because his Reagan-era advisors probably told him to do it. Sit on the lead, play defense, and do what Reagan did in 1980.; 2/2/16, 7:35 PM
Chuck said...: mcCullough; further...

The Trump line was that he "watched in Jersey City, N.J., where thousands and thousands of people were cheering..."

So there are a few elements there. That Trump "watched"; that it was "in Jersey City"; and that there were "thousands and thousands."

If Trump "watched," it is certain that he did not see "thousands and thousands" of such people, because no television station showed such a thing. Ever.

There has been a wild post-hoc stretch by the Trumpettes to find somebody, anybody, to support in any way possible the notion (unseen by Trump) that there was a "celebration" at all. And so they came up with the off-duty Jersey City cop who claims he witnessed such a thing but never wrote a report about the incident.

Don't whine about it, mccullough, when a national media makes it their life work to undermine Trump on every stupid thing he's ever said, notwithstanding the fact that Trump has said so many stupid things that even a spreadsheet wouldn't suffice. I sort of adore Ann Coulter but on her notion that Trump would be a fall '16 winner, she is thinking wishfully. It won't happen. Trump will be the highest-negative candidate in modern American history.; 2/2/16, 7:46 PM
rcocean said...: "Part of the reason that Trump's bitching about McCain was so monstrous was the fact that McCain's POW record is as genuine and as heroic as any in modern American history."

The Bataan Death March survivors disagree.; 2/2/16, 7:53 PM
rcocean said...: People sided with Trump over McCain because people are tired of people excusing McCain's jackass behavior by 'but..but..he's a war hero'.

Yeah, that was 40 years ago, and McCain is pushing 80. There's a statue of limitations on everything.; 2/2/16, 7:55 PM
traditionalguy said...: Trump is up and running at full speed again. The strange overly religious approach to politics in Iowa is behind him now. He did manage to finger the real weakness of Cruz which is a reliance on slick Lying. Unfortunately, that just made the overly religious Iowans scramble around and open up to Rubio's canned spiel.

With church attending folks, it is a widely observed aphorism that The Religious Spirit is another name for The Lying Spirit. Trump bringing in light just made the the religious spirit roaches scramble around looking for cover.; 2/2/16, 7:57 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: He meant life in general. It's a cry for help.; 2/2/16, 8:17 PM
Beldar said...: @ Achilles (2/2/16, 7:02 PM), who wrote:

"A week ago nobody gave Trump a chance in Iowa now they are seeing a second place finish as the end of his campaign.

"You people are delusional...."

Please, look at the historical RCP Iowa average, because it's you who are delusional. A week ago Trump led Cruz in Iowa by ten points.

I doubt you're rich enough to get away with that kind of counterfactual nonsense. You have to be a reality TV-star billionaire for that, and it only works on the extremely gullible.; 2/2/16, 8:19 PM
Beldar said...: Prof. Althouse, I'm pretty sure that your con law exams are not multiple choice. At least I hope they are.

You really aren't very good at constructing multiple choice questions. Please include a "none of the above" option if you ever want me to respond.; 2/2/16, 8:22 PM
Beldar said...: I do agree with your implication, though, Prof. Althouse, that this "not worth it" comment -- after a Twitter silence of nearly a day -- is a monumentally revealing tweet by Trump.

He's going to quit. That's his life history; that's why he's had to drag his web of interlocked companies through bankruptcy four separate times.; 2/2/16, 8:23 PM
Chuck said...: rcocean: I didn't mean to diminish the heroism of the Bataan prisoners. Nor Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds.

I didn't say anything to diminish them, and never intended to diminish their heroism.

But of course, taking Donald J. Trump at his word, Trump intended to diminish and insult all of them. Because they were all "captured." And Donald J. Trump "like[s] people who weren't captured."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/07/20/what-donald-trump-was-up-to-while-john-mccain-was-suffering-as-a-prisoner-of-war/; 2/2/16, 8:39 PM
Chuck said...: Ooh, I forgot the link for Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds. Edmonds, who was of course "captured" at the Battle of the Bulge, is one of the people for whom Mr. Donald J. Trump doesn't seem to have much use.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/28/world/middleeast/obama-honor-americans-effort-to-save-jews-the-holocaust.html?_r=0; 2/2/16, 8:43 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: If he can convince the other candidates to fund his campaign, he will have proved himself a truly formidable negotiator.; 2/2/16, 8:45 PM
mccullough said...: Chuck,

Like John Lewis with his civil rights bravery, McCain has used the POW thing for as long as he can. That's fine, but it can get insufferable. McCain is running for a 6th Senate term now, which is long past the time anyone should serve in the Senate. The guy loves the DC bullshit and lifestyle.

It makes Trump's serious joke about McCain even funnier that Trump himself avoided service. Attacking people's perceived strengths can be an effective strategy. McCain wasn't a good pilot, which is why his plane went down. Vietnam was a stupid war. McCain wants to keep getting people killed in stupid wars and Trump says we shouldn't have been involved in stupid war in Iraq, which McCain supported, the stupid war in Libya, which McCain supported, and the stupid war in Syria, which McCain supports.

Trump was smart to avoid service in Vietnam and he's right about the US involvement in the Middle East.
McCain doesn't seem to have learned anything from Vietnam. He's belligerent to the point of stupidity.; 2/2/16, 8:52 PM
ken in tx said...: I read a theory that Trump was negotiating with some Chinese on a business deal. He thought he would have more clout with them if they thought he was big political figure in the US. When his candidacy started gaining support, he decided to see where it would go. That's Why he's where he is now.

Where did I read that? Don't remember.; 2/2/16, 9:05 PM
cubanbob said...: I'm for Cruz and Cruz won Iowa. Ok. Great. But then again the expectation was that Cruz was supposed to win in Iowa (he did), Trump to come in second (he did) and Rubio come in third place (he did). So all that happened what was predicted to happen. Now lets see what happens in New Hampshire and the in South Carolina. Lets not get prematurely excited or depressed. In the meantime the real upset was among the Democrats. Hillary was supposed to rollover Sanders like bug on the road. Instead she won by a suspicious coin toss.; 2/2/16, 9:06 PM
Beldar said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/2/16, 9:09 PM
MPH said...: He can't afford to self-fund it because he isn't actually a billionaire. All "his" wealth is owned by banks.; 2/2/16, 9:10 PM
Beldar said...: @ mccullough (2/2/16, 8:52 PM): McCain has survived four air crashes, and famously jokes, to others perturbed by turbulence during campaign flights, that he's not fated to die in one, so they're safe with him.

Every crash was because he was indeed the hottest of the hot-stick pilots, flying ground-attack aircraft into enemy territory and into the teeth of ferocious anti-aircraft fire from the deck of a pitching carrier on the shores of an American enemy. Technically, he'd correct you and say that he's not a pilot at all, much less a bad one; he's a naval aviator.

I've got tons of criticisms of John McCain as a politician. But you, like Trump, should be ashamed of yourself for what you've said about John McCain's military service. Your comments are repugnant. John McCain got shot down -- not because he was a bad pilot, but because he was over Hanoi. He was offered the chance to go home because his dad was the Navy's Commander in Chief of the Pacific and it would have been a propaganda coup for the North Vietnamese.

I don't know you -- but if you'd done anything remotely comparable, we all would.; 2/2/16, 9:13 PM
Drago said...: ken in tx: "I read a theory that Trump was negotiating with some Chinese on a business deal. He thought he would have more clout with them if they thought he was big political figure in the US. When his candidacy started gaining support, he decided to see where it would go. That's Why he's where he is now.

Where did I read that? Don't remember."

A number of sources have pointed out that a large percentage of Trumps deals occur outside the US and that regardless of the election results here he could parley that additional PR into even more fabulous deals. This is because the rest of the world is not especially interested in the inside baseball aspects of our election campaigns and, quite frankly, think that Trumps policy comments are not out of the ordinary at all.; 2/2/16, 9:19 PM
mccullough said...: Beldar,

My dad fought in Vietnam, so I'm not denigrating McCain's service (nor am I awed by it). But he's traded on it for far too long. He wasn't the only one who fought or the only POW. (Just as John Lewis wasn't the only civil rights activist to be beaten). Trump's joke about McCain was funny. When did we stop having a sense of humor in this country?

McCain is far too willing to support useless US interventions that get American soldiers killed. While it's good that McCain was willing to die in a senseless war, so he's not a hypocrite, I'm not ashamed to criticize him or laugh at a joke about him nor am I in awe of McCain. He's an octogenarian 5-term senator who keeps piling on debt on future generations of citizens and is part of the problem with the federal government. So please spare me your hero worship.; 2/2/16, 9:43 PM
mccullough said...: And the only reason McCain was at the Naval Academy is because his dad and grandad were high ranking naval officers. Are we allowed to say this out loud? He finished fourth from the bottom of his class. So he took a lazy student who took a class spot from a more deserving candidate. Can we say this?; 2/2/16, 9:53 PM
rcocean said...: My Dad was in Naval Aviation. He used to say the best pilots got fighters, the 2nd best got multi-engine aircraft, and the worst got single engine attack. Why? Because the single engine attack could only kill themselves.

McCain was a single engine attack pilot.; 2/2/16, 9:56 PM
Drago said...: rcocean: "My Dad was in Naval Aviation. He used to say the best pilots got fighters, the 2nd best got multi-engine aircraft, and the worst got single engine attack. Why? Because the single engine attack could only kill themselves.

McCain was a single engine attack pilot"

Not quite true.

The selection process for aircraft-type pipelines are controlled to ensure the appropriate "quality spread" amongst all aircraft communities in the Navy.

So, if the top graduate in the class selects fighters (the top guy/gal always gets his/her first choice), then it's almost automatic the bottom performer in the class gets fighters as well to create the correct avg gpa. The second place graduate then gets their choice (most often not the same choice as the top candidate) and the generally the second candidate from the bottom gets the same type aircraft.

And so on.

It was always amusing when the top candidate was awarded fighters and the bottom candidate, after being informed he/she was also awarded fighters, taunts the other grads as if he/she had outperformed them.

Of course, the really poor performers never graduated at all.; 2/2/16, 11:06 PM
cubanbob said...: @Drago what is the qualitative difference between the top of the class and the bottom of the class?; 2/2/16, 11:27 PM
Beldar said...: @ mccullough: There are tons of criticisms that can be made against McCain, and yes, that can even extend to his service record.

I'm entirely unpersuaded by any of the ones you offered in your non-apology, but they all at least arguably have some factual basis.

But that he got shot down because he's a bad pilot?

That's disgusting.; 2/2/16, 11:38 PM
Beldar said...: We flew out to the est of Hanoi, turned, and headed into make our run. We came in from the west so that once we had rolled in on the target, released our bombs, and pulled out we would be flying directly toward the Tonkin Gulf.... As soon as we hit land and approached the three concentric rings of SAMs that surrounded Hanoi, the tone indicating that missile radar was tracking sounded. It tracked us for miles.

We flew in fairly large separations, unlike the tight formations flown in World War II bombing raids. At about nine thousand feet, as we turned inbound on the target, our warning lights flashed, and the tone for enemy radar started sounding so loudly I had to turn down the volume. I could see huge clouds of smoke and dust erupt on the ground as SAMs were fired at us. The closer we came to the target the fiercer were the defenses. For the first time in combat I saw thick black clouds of antiaircraft flak everywhere, images familiar to me only from World War II movies.

A SAM appears as a flying telephone pole, moving at great speed. We were now maneuvering through a nearly impassible obstacle course of antiaircraft fire and flying telephone poles. They scared the hell out of me. We normally kept pretty good radio discipline throughout a run, but there was a lot of chatter that day as pilots called out SAMs. Twenty-two missiles were fired at us that day....

I recognized the target sitting next to the small lake from the intelligence photographs I had studied. I dove in on it just as the tone went off signaling that a SAM was flying toward me. I knew I should roll out and fly evasive maneuvers, "jinking," in fliers' parlance, when I heard the tone. The A-4 is a small, fast, highly maneuverable aircraft, a lot of fun to fly, and it can take a beating. Many an A-4 returned safely to its carrier after being badly shot up by enemy fire. An A-4 can outmaneuver a tracking SAM, pulling more G's than the missile can. But I was just about to release my bombs when the tone sounded, and had I started jinking I would never have had the time nor, probably, the nerve, to go back in once I had lost the SAM. So, at about 3,500 feet, I released my bombs, then pulled back the stick to begin a steep climb to a safer altitude. In the instant before my plane reacted, a SAM blew my right wing off....

... I didn't think, "Gee, I'm hit--now what?" I reacted automatically the moment I took the hit and saw that my wing was gone. I radioed, "I'm hit," reached up, and pulled the ejection seat handle.

I struck part of the airplane, breaking my left arm, my right arm in three places, and my right knee, and I was briefly knocked unconscious by the force of the ejection. Witnesses said my chute had barely opened before I plunged into the shallow water of Truc Bach Lake [in Hanoi]....

----

From "Faith of My Fathers," by John McCain with Mark Salter (1999).

mccullough, if you have anything to show any particular of that account is untrue or exaggerated -- and neither Team Obama nor any other of McCain's opponents have ever been able to show that -- or if you have any other factual support for your disgusting factual assertion that John McCain got shot down because he was a bad pilot, now's the time to link and quote it.; 2/3/16, 12:01 AM
mccullough said...: Beldar,

It was a joke. Why can't people laugh at it? It was funny.; 2/3/16, 12:02 AM
Drago said...: cubanbob: "@Drago what is the qualitative difference between the top of the class and the bottom of the class?"

The scale has fluctuated over the decades (depending on the needs of the Navy, quality of candidates in the pipeline, etc), but if memory serves a useful benchmark would be about a 3.2 minimum on a 4.0 scale. Others who recall this from their time should feel free to check my work.

Above average was the "mins" in those days.; 2/3/16, 12:03 AM
Beldar said...: This isn't "hero worship," by the way. I wrote very, very extensively about John McCain on my blog during 2007-2008.

This is me giving a damn about the truth, and calling out someone who, like Donald Trump, deliberately distorts it and then won't apologize.; 2/3/16, 12:04 AM
Beldar said...: Not funny.

Sick and disgusting.; 2/3/16, 12:04 AM
CachorroQuente said...: "Trump's joke about McCain was funny. When did we stop having a sense of humor in this country?"

A draft dodging whore monger who spent his time trying to leave no bimbo in New York City unschlonged while John McCain was in the Hanoi Hilton takes a cheap shot at McCain's military record and you find it funny. Can't argue with that.; 2/3/16, 12:04 AM
mccullough said...: Beldar,

How many planes did McCain crash during his career?

He wasn't Eddie Rickenbacker.

You take this shit way too seriously.; 2/3/16, 12:07 AM
CachorroQuente said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/3/16, 12:08 AM
CachorroQuente said...: "You take this shit way too seriously. "

You take your role as a Trump gunsel way too seriously.; 2/3/16, 12:11 AM
rcocean said...: I for one am willing to agree that McCain was a hero 40 years ago and an OK pilot.

Now, can that crazy old fool retire, shut his yap, and stop appearing on TV.

"You have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately... Depart, I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!"; 2/3/16, 12:20 AM
mccullough said...: Vietnam was a stupid war. Quayle, Clinton, W., Cheney, Trump, and Sanders all avoided going to Vietnam. Why anyone would want to get killed in that senseless war is beyond me.

Kerry signed up to fight in Vietnam and McCain had been in the military 6 years when the war started. Gore went to Vietnam with a camera and typewriter.

No one gives a shit. Vietnam was 50 years ago and the government keeps sending young Americans off to die in useless wars like Afghanistan and Iraq.; 2/3/16, 12:28 AM
mccullough said...: I'm not a Trump supporter. All these candidates on both sides are weak.

But he's entertaining and he says a lot of things that are true.

I don't care if he hurts McCain's feelings or W's feelings or Obama's feelings or the feelings of some NY Times reporter or Megyn Kelly.. They all deserve to be mocked, just like Trump. Trump doesn't take himself very seriously unlike these other assholes.

Trump is the perfect candidate for the US. After electing W and Obama, two lightweight arrogant fools for President, and keeping useless fossils like Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell, and John McCain in the Senate for 30 years, we deserve a candidate like Trump. His candidacy is a joke because our government is a joke. So quit pretending people like McCain have some sense of honor. Whatever honor he had is long gone.; 2/3/16, 12:38 AM
Dustin said...: I'm not sure what Trump means by self-funded campaign. He's taking donations like everyone else is. I think he's just finding dramatic things to say, because that's what reality TV is all about.

This may be why he is underperforming polls. There's a lot more to managing a campaign than being dramatic for free publicity.

I guess the self funded concept is meant to show Trump is really serious and willing to sacrifice to make this happen. Cruz put his life savings and his home up to get a loan to finance his campaign. That's a lot more skin in the game, relative to what one has, than Trump has placed. And yet it's Trump who is complaining.

Furthermore, Trump's wealth came from cheating investors, strategically, exploiting bankruptcy law repeatedly and to the tune of actual billions. Trump will tell you all about it in his books. He built an empire of sleazy casinos with those investments, almost entirely unpaid back to his investors. He flies over them in gorgeous helicopters with his name on them, probably laughing. And Beldar's right... he mocks everybody who doesn't fawn over him, even for being POWs. Or for being a serious journalist. Or simply running against him.

That would be an amazing presidency to watch, but the nation deserves better.; 2/3/16, 12:43 AM
Dustin said...: "Trump doesn't take himself very seriously unlike these other assholes. "

I disagree with you on that one. He can't stand being questioned or scrutinized. Hell, he's courted folks for their endorsement, flipping to bashing them if they decline. He takes himself very seriously and is thin skinned to the point of skipping a debate because the moderator is hard on candidates.

it's great to criticize Mccain, but on the generalized basis of being a POW? That's disrespectful to folks who deserve respect. This is not a TV show, btw. Real people live or die based on our president's ability to make good decisions under stress. Sometimes the right decision comes at a political cost. Trump is not up for this job.; 2/3/16, 12:46 AM
mccullough said...: None of these candidates is up for this job. Obama and W weren't up for this job. Let's not pretend that Trump is some bolt from the blue. We have terrible leaders in this country. Our government is awful.

And Trump criticized the basis for McCain's career in politics. He said, "McCain's a war hero because he got captured. I like people who weren't captured." He also made fun of McCain's academic career at the Naval Academy. Instead of laughing it off, McCain said Trump needed to apologize to POWs. Only McCain gets to make fun of other people.; 2/3/16, 1:02 AM
Brando said...: I really can't believe Trump fans defend those comments about McCain. It's not that they were offensive, it's that they were simply wrong--no one considers McCain a hero because he was captured. He was a hero because of how he acted after he was captured--he refused early release, despite terrible wounds that were not properly treated and knowing he could easily die in his cell. And he did this to embolden his fellow POWs and not be used as propaganda for the enemy. I'm not sure I have it in me to do the same if I was subject to constant torture, and I certainly can't imagine an entitled douchebag like Donald Trump doing that. The gall to mock a guy who went through that for his fellow POWs and his country's war effort just demonstrates what an awful person Trump is.

And don't for a minute tell me that if Obama had made the exact same comment all of you wouldn't be howling about what a piece of garbage Obama was for doing that. The difference is you're enthralled by Trump and he can do no wrong in your eyes, so you can justify any offensive thing because it came from the mouth of Dear Leader.; 2/3/16, 6:15 AM
Brando said...: "I disagree with you on that one. He can't stand being questioned or scrutinized. Hell, he's courted folks for their endorsement, flipping to bashing them if they decline. He takes himself very seriously and is thin skinned to the point of skipping a debate because the moderator is hard on candidates."

Of course he's thin skinned--about a quarter of Republicans seem happy nominating a man with the mentality of a 12 year old girl. But don't worry, according to them this is just a man who "fights back". Yes, a tweet war--that's up there with George Patton.

I used to mock Democrats for creating a sort of cult following around Obama. I don't mock them anymore.; 2/3/16, 6:17 AM
CachorroQuente said...: "I'm not a Trump supporter"

Then why are you following him around on your hands and knees sticking your cold, wet nose where it doesn't belong?

"And Trump criticized the basis for McCain's career in politics."

And what is the basis for Trump's career in politics?

That he ran a real estate rental operation (as President of Trump Management Corporation) that was repeatedly accused by the feds of racially discriminatory rental practices.

That he got his start as the result of his father manipulating the corrupt New York political system while colluding with the mob securing unprecedented tax abatements from a nearly bankrupt city?

That he turned a struggling football league with a betting chance at success into a $3 joke?

That he killed the Eastern Shuttle?

That he paid his first wife $27 million to retract her rape accusation?

That he ran a classic con-game laughingly named "Trump University?"

That when he made bad investment decisions in Chicago real estate and defaulted on loans to Deutsche Bank that he had personally guaranteed he sued Deutsche Bank for having the temerity to ask for payment?; 2/3/16, 6:37 AM
Robert Cook said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/3/16, 7:09 AM
Robert Cook said...: "Why anyone would want to get killed in that senseless war is beyond me."

Why anyone would want to get killed in any senseless war is beyond me...and they're nearly all senseless...sold as necessary efforts to defend our (or someone's) "freedom," when they're power- or money- or land-grabs, wars to take what someone else has for ourselves, or to exert dominance over an area of the world in order to benefit ourselves politically or economically.

Unfortunately, "senseless" doesn't mean avoidable, and too many young men in the 60s had little choice but to answer their draft call-up or flee to Canada...becoming criminals who might never be able to come back to America. Those who successfully avoided service in the 60s without fleeing the country were mostly the privileged who could go to college obtain student deferments.; 2/3/16, 7:14 AM
Jaq said...: Seems like a drunk tweet to me, or Trump's dark night of the soul.; 2/3/16, 7:36 AM
Jaq said...: Plus if America never started any wars, there wouldn't be any wars.; 2/3/16, 7:37 AM
grackle said...: Unfortunately, "senseless" doesn't mean avoidable, and too many young men in the 60s had little choice but to answer their draft call-up or flee to Canada.

Ah, the glory days of the 60’s. The wistful remembrance of war protests and the draft. O if those splendid years could just be returned to our nation all things would be put right again.

Trump scooted because his Reagan-era advisors probably told him to do it. Sit on the lead, play defense, and do what Reagan did in 1980.

Reagan advisors? Who are these advisors? Could we have a link to a couple of them? Don’t be shy. Pony up those names.

For me, a veteran, Trump’s remarks on McCain were silly and untrue. McCain is and was a war hero. No doubt about it.

But also for me, as a veteran, Trump raised 6 million dollars in an hour - for veterans. So I’ll give Trump a pass on his unfortunate words about McCain.

Deranged Trump supporter; 2/3/16, 10:00 AM
CachorroQuente said...: "But also for me, as a veteran, Trump raised 6 million dollars in an hour - for veterans. So I’ll give Trump a pass on his unfortunate words about McCain. "

How much of that money actually made it through Trump and got to any veteran or veteran's organization/charity? Did Trump suck off a couple million for expenses or did he eat the expenses? Did the money get funneled through the Trump Foundation? It would be nice to see an accounting, or even just an explanation from Trump.

I think it's perfectly legal for a fundraiser to deduct expenses incurred, but here Trump is using the fact that he raised $6 million for political purposes and an explanation should be made.; 2/3/16, 2:00 PM
Meade said...: Trump got captured in the Iowa caucuses. I like candidates who weren't captured.; 2/3/16, 2:49 PM
grackle said...: How much of that money actually made it through Trump and got to any veteran or veteran's organization/charity? Did Trump suck off a couple million for expenses or did he eat the expenses? Did the money get funneled through the Trump Foundation? It would be nice to see an accounting, or even just an explanation from Trump.

Another thing that would be nice – if implication could be back up by some kind of link to a fact. But when you have no facts implication is the only way to go.; 2/4/16, 1:18 PM