... let's talk about it! What are you looking for? I had the idea that "perhaps all 4 men will go for an elevated presidential demeanor," but I also thought there's a good chance "there will be blood."
UPDATE 1: My son John is live-blogging (as usual). He'll have a lot of updates, and I may have some here too.
UPDATE 2: Trump guarantees us that he doesn't have a small penis.
UPDATE 3: Trump has fixed the "reverse racoon."
UPDATE 4: Poor Cruz suffered the worst physical disaster I've ever seen on TV! What was that thing that came out of his mouth and rode along on his lip?! We were screaming in horror!
UPDATE 5: Rubio, Cruz, and Kasich all say they will support Trump if he's the nominee. And Trump says he'll support whoever is the party's nominee.
March 3, 2016
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368 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 368 of 368Thank God that Valerie Jarrett is around ata time when North Korea is going crazy.
"Donald Trump clearly dominates the field."
What the fuck, FOX. Did he write that line for you?
We're journalists, we think about ratings first and foremost.
Shameful.
The Trump supporters can take heart that about 15 people are watching this debate and about 9 of them already support Trump.
Those self-selecting few who actually watch these things cannot be swayed from their preferred candidates.
On the plus side, at least no one has had to dodge sniper fire like Field Marshall Hillary "cankles" Rodham (or is it Clinton again...then Rodham again....till it has to be Clinton again because, you know, she really can't do anything on her own)
Clinton sent Jimmy Carter to negotiate with North Korea not to build a nuke. They agreed, we gave them money and built a nuke. Mid 90s foreign policy at its finest.
Megyn still got her licks in against Trump with her prepared videos. Hard to see this as a neutral setting for Trump. This being said, I didn't see anything that really moved the needle for either Cruz or Rubio. They all just managed to tear each other down a little more. To win the general they need to resolve this thing fairly soon.
Katich is the only sane one of the bunch. But I think even he is naively bellicose. Arming Ukraine? With what beyond what they already have? And to what end? Would it be linked to a "goal" of removing Russia from the Crimea?
Maybe he's right that Putin would fold, though. He seemed to fold when the Turks shot his planes down.
Also, current Iranian policy, mccullough.
Birkel
What is the "concern troll" bit you think you have spotted? That your candidate can't win? That your devotion to the Constitution is going to be ignored? Again?
Amanda: "I think Putin is more interested in Trump as a love interest than Obama."
Such are the feeble attempts to get everyone misdirected from obambi's "flexibility" for his "tough guy" boyfriend.
Not that there is anything wrong with that, except for everything wrong with that.
Sorry I called you on it, Michael.
You know, when you said the guy you gave money cannot win.
Any other investment advice?
How can it be that the population of the neighboring states have not flooded the paradise of Ohio?
R&B's: "But I think even he is naively bellicose. Arming Ukraine? With what beyond what they already have? And to what end? Would it be linked to a "goal" of removing Russia from the Crimea?"
I don't believe a President could actually detail the specifics to those questions. Those questions would have to remain unanswered to be effective.
I'm not saying those are unfair questions. Just that they cannot actually be answered.
This is like a rambling right-wing stream of consciousness festival. On the Road with Donnie and the Boys.
I don't think any one of them knows how to connect what they say one moment to the next.
Did you all see that? Little Marco didn't want to shake hands with Trump.. it was awkward.
He has a cold, pm317.
R&B's: "I don't think any one of them knows how to connect what they say one moment to the next."
This comment seems oddly disconnected from your previous post.
I would be in favor of arming the Ukraine if I thought it would do any good - the US was utterly complicit in forcing them to disarm, and we should be there for them. Unfortunately, their government is such a corrupt shitshow, half of the arms we gave them would probably end up sold to Russian separatists. Which sucks, but that's the reality.
Even Trump supporters would have to smile a bit when The Donald tells OReilly that OReilly gets a "bit carried away with himself".
So tonight the leading candidate for the GOP nomination promised to order our military to murder children and bragged about the size of his penis.
There is no shaming the shameless.
If you support this vulgar monster, you are being suckered, and you're going to end up as evil as he is.
It was such a shame that Murray and Bernstein's Bell Curve got so consumed in the mid-90's with the racial stuff, which had only ever been a very small component of the overall work (and tangential to its overall thesis). I think, flawed though it was, that book was a groundbreaking piece of social analysis. And it was all really presaged by Michael Young in his 1958 satire The Rise of the Meritocracy.
We are faced with a bit of a conundrum. Economic success in today's society and economy is more dependent than ever on cognitive ability. Given that one's cognitive ability is determined to a sizable extent by factors outside your control (e.g. genes, early childhood environment), what do we do with the millions of Americans who do not have the cognitive ability to even do basic college-level coursework, let alone obtain an academic degree? One good idea is to stop importing low-skilled foreigners willing to live eight to a trailer and work for slave wages.
All of this really is just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. The demographic writing is on the wall. America is doomed. The smart long-term plan is emigration.
"Shiloh
At some point Trump will become a Republican and start talking about votes on the down ticket, pulling the straight Republican ticket. He will get support from below at that point. Hide and watch."
Full disclosure ~ not a big fan of Hillary, but elections as always come down to choices. Realizing neither side will have a 60 seat majority come Jan 2017 absolutely nothing of importance will be passed in congress. The big prize, as always, will be SC appointments which are far more important nowadays.
>
When I was supporting Obama in 2008 mentioned at a political blog that Hillary was/is an enabler re: Bill's sexcapades. So let the record show I was 8 years ahead of Trump discussing the enabler topic.
But, but, but never underestimate a Clinton when it comes to national elections, which makes Obama's 2008 win all that more impressive.
Again, stay tuned ...
>
Trump's gonna win MI/NY/PA/FL etc. he tells O'Reilly. ok, you can definitely say he's modest/humble and realistic. It's gonna be huuuuge!
*Accidentally posted that the first time in the wrong post
Ah: Prof. Althouse is not fixated on Megyn Kelly's false eyelashes because she's fixated instead on the fragment of breath mint on Cruz' lip for about 20 seconds.
Serious commentary here.
Beldar: "So tonight the leading candidate for the GOP nomination promised to order our military to murder children and bragged about the size of his penis."
Once again, the anti-Trumpers do themselves no favors by mischaracterizing what The Donald has said.
And it begs the question, if what The Donald said was so horrible, why do you feel the need to embellish?
Which then simply makes others note that you have done that very thing and ends up generating more support for The Donald.
As a Cruz supporter let me say to you, "thanks idiot". We all appreciate your "help".
Freeman Hunt, impressive of Trump, eh? A historical first, a Presidential candidate bragging about his wee wee size on a national Presidential debate. Would be funny if it weren't so shameful to the seriousness of the position of leader of the most powerful nation on earth. Making the US a laughingstock to the rest of the world.
I was listening only..but I thought there was a moment in Rubio's challenge to Trump re: NYT tape where Trump said ok..but Rubio probably missed it. Hearing it, I thought he missed the chance to "make a deal".
So tonight the leading candidate for the GOP nomination promised to order our military to murder children and bragged about the size of his penis.
There is no shaming the shameless.
If you support this vulgar monster, you are being suckered, and you're going to end up as evil as he is.
But you can still stop him, Beldar! An powerful organization structured on decency and honor is running the GOP! Don't believe those libtards who tell you the GOP is too corrupt to get the right thing done!
Ha hahahahaha
I made a joke a little while back about Trump making claims about his hair or other parts. I did not expect the joke to come, in a way, true.
"But to hear Trump talk about it, Roberts was practically the author of ObamaCare. It's nutty."
No, the author was the insurance lobby and 25 young Democrat staff lawyers.
Roberts was just the obstetrician who made sure it was not strangled in the delivery room.
Berkeley
I also gave Rubio money. Also the fat man. Rubio is the only one I regret.
Amanda:"Would be funny if it weren't so shameful to the seriousness of the position of leader of the most powerful nation on earth. "
It would be much better if the candidate had simply and slyly flipped off the other candidate.
Like you know who.
Entertainment culture/mentality is the victor. Losers all round. Didn't have to be this way.
Obama has kept America from being a laughingstock. Look at all the respect he has from world leaders.
What to make of this?
Farmer, I agree re "Bell Curve".
Unfortunately there is nowhere to go. I am here, after all, not elsewhere, and I'm a lucky man, I've had plenty of options. It's also a matter of our generations not ourselves. I don't care in the least what happens to me, but plenty about the kids.
HT: "Entertainment culture/mentality is the victor. Losers all round. Didn't have to be this way"'
Didn't it? Once you factor in the purposeful dumbing down of America via the leftist "long march thru the institutions" and unfettered immigration of the worlds least educated and most dependent?
R&B,
Regarding your link, obviously Trump has great respect for the poorly educated.
Rhythm and Balls: "What to make of this?"
That would make more sense to me than the idea that Trump actually believed it. In the same way that Trump speaks about evangelicals, minorities, etc.
BTW, Rubio on with OReilly now and it's not getting better for Rubio.
You should hear what he said to O'Reilly. The guy was completely congenial and light-hearted, and Trump complained of unfair treatment. O'Reilly asked him why that was or what made him think so and Trump said that O'Reilly should ask his "psychiatrist" about it, with a stern face.
This guy sure isn't magnanimous in victory, I'll tell you that. He's the personification of the social winner-take-all mentality pushed by the right. I'm beginning to think the Twitterers portending a GOP suicide are right.
Michael K:
Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi cannot have a pass. They wrote so many stupid things down, all Democrats get some blame.
Obama-Insurance is a failure by all the measures it's supporters offered. Time to move the goalposts and lie.
...obviously Trump has great respect for the poorly educated.
Lol.
Trump had a very bad night, he's grumpy.
I prefer the Democrats "no winners except the party" mentality.
@buwaya puti:
"I don't care in the least what happens to me, but plenty about the kids."
Then you should encourage and prepare them in the long-term for emigration. I would suggest somewhere in East or Southeast Asia. Europe is probably past the point of no return. Latin America, sub-saharan Africa, and South Asia will in all likelihood continue to be basket cases.
If emigration is not a feasible option, then at the very least try to live as near the Canadian border as possible. Vermont and New Hampshire are decent choices. At the risk of sounding like a crude racial reductionist, states with around 95% or more white population are all obvious contenders.
Amanda: "R&B, Regarding your link, obviously Trump has great respect for the poorly educated."
Uh oh.
Amanda steps into the "poorly educated" trap.
Amanda, take a wild guess as to whom the most "poorly educated" happen to be in this nation.
Unexpectedly.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=obama+is+gonna+pay+my+bills&view=detail&mid=07EEFFAA8FF3BA5D2B4807EEFFAA8FF3BA5D2B48&FORM=VIRE
I never saw the movie Throw Mama from the Train but something tells me that based on the title alone there should be a role for Trump in it.
Amanda, take a wild guess as to whom the most "poorly educated" happen to be in this nation.
Oh. Thanks for the correction.
Care to hazard a guess as to whom the most "poorly informed" are?
Roberts just permitted the EPA to continue its rule-making suppression of the coal industry. Pretty much by making up whatever rule and standard they like, to add costs until it is out of business. Coal is a major US competitive advantage, the US being the Saudi Arabia of coal. If the US cannot compete with such advantages, then it is doomed to equalize labor costs with the lowesr.
The next step on the EPA target list is natural gas and petroleum, until there is nothing left. There is no restraint on these mad creatures.
This country stands a fair chance of being utterly exterminated by a single government agency.
Democrats.
What do I win?
R&B's: "Care to hazard a guess as to whom the most "poorly informed" are?"
Yes.
You and yours.
At least according the studies which show that the studies you think are true are actually false.
But that's ok. I don't blame you for not knowing as you are poorly informed.
Consider this my attemapt at helping you get informed.
You're welcome:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/jun/20/jon-stewart/jon-stewart-says-those-who-watch-fox-news-are-most/
Well buwaya, Obama is really trying to make good on the syrocketing electricity costs pledge.
East Asia is too close to a great war.
When international trade truly collapses no one will want to be in a densely populated trap like most of those places.
I don't think anyone won the debate tonight, wow was it ugly.
However, I do believe Rubio lost the debate tonight. His fans probably thought he was winning until the very end. Then, if my twitter feed is any indication, they now hate him for betrayal. His claiming he would support Trump if he's the nominee has set off the #nevertrump people.
I say, welcome to the party. Rubio betrayed us on comprehensive immigration reform, and now he has betrayed his #nevertrump fans.
Rubio is toast.
Ok Drago.
That must be why they know more than:
NOAA,
NASA,
CEA,
SCOTUS,
AMA,
etc., etc., etc.
The Party of Know-It-Alls is apparently in for a big win this November. Their front-runner is the biggest know-it-all of all time.
Pity that fact doesn't get him the respect he feels he deserves.
They know more than the Pentagon, too. Forgot that.
Just being a Republican apparently entitles one to omniscience.
"rightwing crazies"
Trump knew the hardcore base of Rep primary voters, so hey, one has to give him credit for understanding the process. In a nutshell, he started running for pres 8 years ago. Who knew?
He probably started assessing the Rep's so called "deep bench" and decided it was a no-brainer! And after Obama made fun of him at the 2010 White House Correspondent's Dinner The Donald had to take up the challenge of saving the world after 8 years of Obama.
NOAA thinks it can adjust temperatures better than the raw data from satellites. It's not that I know better, it's just that my nose - due to millions of years of evolution - can smell bull shit.
R&B's: "That must be why they know more than:......SCOTUS..."
Does disagreement = "knowing more"?
How does one explain left-wing opposition to some SCOTUS decisions?
Do the leftists think they know more than SCOTUS?
That's a bit weak for you R&B. You're usually better than that.
eric said...
However, I do believe Rubio lost the debate tonight... they now hate him for betrayal. His claiming he would support Trump if he's the nominee has set off the #nevertrump people.
Much the same for Cruz. 'Trump is the worst person in the world' - 'I solemnly swear to support Trump if he is the party's nominee'. It plays into the 'they are just politicians who will say anything to get elected' meme.
R&B: "Just being a Republican apparently entitles one to omniscience."
The screech of the goalposts being moved is almost as grating as fingernails on a chalkboard.
"It plays into the 'they are just politicians who will say anything to get elected' meme."
More like honoring the terms of an agreement.
All these helpful Leftists are here to help me know how to think.
Thanks, collectivist.
Feed me to the crocodiles last please.
ARM: "Much the same for Cruz. 'Trump is the worst person in the world' - 'I solemnly swear to support Trump if he is the party's nominee'. It plays into the 'they are just politicians who will say anything to get elected' meme."
ARM is basically correct on this. And it flies in the face of what Romney did earlier.
The incoherence of the republican establishment can only be explained by attributing sheer panic as the basis for their actions.
@buwaya puti:
"East Asia is too close to a great war. "
And we circle back to our fundamentally different points of view on foreign policy and the international system. The American security relationship with Japan is basically a good thing and one of the few remnants of the post-WWII system that remains useful in today's world. It is ultimately a stabilizing factor between Japan and China. Taiwan is a bit murkier. That said, the US is pursuing the same dumb containment strategy against China as it is against Russia. This attempt at containing large regional powers is a futile waste of resources. The US, China, and Russia have vastly more convergent interests than divergent ones. The US should seek a constructive, pragmatic with both countries. That should include allowing Russia a sphere of influence in East and Southeastern Europe and China a sphere of influence in southeast Asia. ASEAN has mutual security interests that allow them to provide some counter to China, but the US should not insert itself. Giving security assurances to these countries typically enables them to engage in reckless, provocative behavior. For a recent example, see Georgia's foolish miscalculations with Russia.
walter said...
More like honoring the terms of an agreement.
Which is premised on an understanding that Trump really isn't the worst person in the world.
walter: "More like honoring the terms of an agreement."
True, but I just sense that is not how it will play in Peoria.
@Birkel
"Thanks, collectivist.
Unless you are advocating anarchism, you are advocating collectivism. Everything else is degree.
It's about supporting the candidate as they go up against Hil...the skirmish has been within the repub primary..as it always is.
NOAA and NASA are corrupt; they have been trying to sandbag their own satellite instrumentation operation in Huntsville by claiming their data is crap, because it does not back the administrations preferred corporatist policies. It's so bad even "Nature" published a criticism.
This all is coming to a head, this is going to be a year of crises, we are due for them in every direction. We already have collapsed international trade, economic crises is many countries, a Great Depression flavor (negative interest rates!) Crashed commodities, capital flight (to the US, which is propping up real estate, etc), triple or quadruple arms sales, threats, and rumors of war everywhere from the Baltic to the South China Sea.
J. Farmer: "Unless you are advocating anarchism, you are advocating collectivism. Everything else is degree."
The Anarcho=collectivists are not going to be happy with you.
Not happy with you at all.
J. Farmer brings the stupid at every turn.
mccullough said...
Shorter Chuck,
Cruz praised Roberts nomination but it's unfair for Trump to hammer Cruz on it.
That's one of your dumber posts.
Yeah, it is unfair for Trump to hammer Cruz for the Roberts nomination. Jeff Sessions supported the Roberts nomination, and Sessions voted for Roberts! If Trump is going to hammer Cruz for the Roberts nomination, he's got to get started on all 55 Republicans in the Senate at the time. Including such lily-livered RINOS as Sessions, Rick Santorum, James Inhofe, Tom Coburn and Saxby Chambliss.
They all "supported" the Roberts nomination more tangibly than Ted Cruz did; they voted for Roberts' confirmation!
But more to the point, Trump's fixation with Roberts on ObamaCare -- and basically suggesting that Roberts is incompetent(?!) or worse(?!) -- is crazy. It doesn't take a Supreme Court to repeal ObamaCare, which is what Trump says he wants. (At least that is what Trump is saying this week.) You need a majority in the House, a 60-vote majority in the Senate and a great President.
I have heard Trump repeat this phony attack about four different times now. It never gets any better. It never even begins to make sense. It's garbage. It's a garbage argument. Trump is a garbage candidate.
Farmer, China is on the edge of claiming control of transit rights through the South China Sea, the main trade route for everyone there. They are already denying even transit rights for fishing vessels. This is not a minor piece of foolishness. I fear the Chinese are not as reasonable, at the moment, as you think they should be.
I expect that shortly, probably this year, the Chinese will start making the government's there offers they can't refuse, regarding alliances, bases and trade agreements.
Starting with Manila.
Chuck: "But more to the point, Trump's fixation with Roberts on ObamaCare -- and basically suggesting that Roberts is incompetent(?!) or worse(?!) -- is crazy."
Given Roberts role in that ruling, no it's not.
Chuck: "It doesn't take a Supreme Court to repeal ObamaCare,..."
It does take a Chief Justice to rewrite the law for Obama on the fly to keep key provisions from being thrown out.
To pretend otherwise is moronic as it is to pretend that republicans caving to Obama on so many key issues is not what provided the opening to Trump.
BTW,
It seems to me like Megyn Kelly pulled a Candy Crowley on Trump tonight. She beat him over the head with the D rating on Trump University. When he said it was an A rating, she said no, it was a D rating as late as 2010.
Trump has already posted the A rating from 2011 on his facebook page and twitter feed.
eric: "BTW, It seems to me like Megyn Kelly pulled a Candy Crowley on Trump tonight. She beat him over the head with the D rating on Trump University. When he said it was an A rating, she said no, it was a D rating as late as 2010.
Trump has already posted the A rating from 2011 on his facebook page and twitter feed"
This is why I posted earlier that Trump will come of this debate alright. Because the establishment hacks and anti-Trumpites (like Chuck and Beldar) will simply overplay their hands so much they will drive base voters into Trumps arms.
Blogger AReasonableMan said...
eric said...
However, I do believe Rubio lost the debate tonight... they now hate him for betrayal. His claiming he would support Trump if he's the nominee has set off the #nevertrump people.
Much the same for Cruz. 'Trump is the worst person in the world' - 'I solemnly swear to support Trump if he is the party's nominee'. It plays into the 'they are just politicians who will say anything to get elected' meme
Maybe it hurts Cruz, but Rubio had been tweeting the #nevertrump hashtag all week, making the never trump people think they had an ally.
Then at the debate, he does a 180 on them and says he'll support Trump.
Which is why I singled out Rubio.
buwaya puti:
J. Farmer believes in Fortress America. He is also oddly focused on race.
China is at a moment of existential crisis because it cannot keep the economy growing. Doing nothing risks revolution within China. They must become more militaristic to rally support for a flagging government. What other choice has any government with similar policies ever chosen, toward the end?
BTW, between Megyn Kelly in fluorescent white and Dana Perino in turtleneck cobalt blue, it's been a pleasant evening with the TV volume turned down post-debate while finalizing a bit of work.
Chuck,
Roberts just today colluded in one of the grossest acts of economic sabotage in US history. Against the petition of 20 States. It doesn't matter how he has voted on minor issues, he has permitted an exercise of bureaucratic power that is very likely to commit fatal damage to the economy.
There is no law, now, to stop the insanity.
Eight years of Obama has driven the Rep establishment, congressmen, senators and hardcore primary voters off the deep end.
Indeed, they still can't process the reality of losing to an Islamo-Fascist/Marxist/Communist/Socialist, wealth distributing Muslim born in Kenya who wakes up every morning hating America and Americans ~ not once, but twice.
And if Hillary wins ... Whoa Nelly!
But not to fret as on the day of Hillary's Inaugural McConnell will organize a meeting to come up with a most scathingly brilliant plan to make Hillary a one-term president!
Apologies to Hayley Mills ...
Birkel: "They must become more militaristic to rally support for a flagging government. What other choice has any government with similar policies ever chosen, toward the end?"
Which explains their focus on Carrier Battle Group SSM's and rapid development of their man-made islands in the South China Sea and a number of other tactical and strategic maneuvers.
Let's face it, Obama's child-like "flexible" posturing (and drawing / undrawing red lines) isn't going to deter anyone.
buwaya puti:
Exactly so. The bureaucracy must be brought to heel. That is the reason I support Cruz. The only reason.
I see no other candidate who has the convictions to attempt a return to Constitutional principles.
Shiloh: "Eight years of Obama has driven the Rep establishment, congressmen, senators and hardcore primary voters off the deep end."
Shiloh returns to us out from out of the 8 year cloud of Bush Derangement Syndrome to project his psychosis on others.
It might be more effective if Shiloh simply posted his comments in Austrian. And if you say that's not possible, well, you're a racist!
Blogger buwaya puti said...
Chuck,
Roberts just today colluded in one of the grossest acts of economic sabotage in US history. Against the petition of 20 States. It doesn't matter how he has voted on minor issues, he has permitted an exercise of bureaucratic power that is very likely to commit fatal damage to the economy.
There is no law, now, to stop the insanity.
Chuck hates Trump so badly he will defend Roberts as a solid Supreme Court pick.
Ugh.
Shiloh, you are a fool.
I am a foreigner, not a Republican.
You, and we all, are on the edge of the abyss.
The life of comfort is near over.
And it is the Democratic-party bureaucratic monster that is pushing everyone into the pit.
That's just one of the pending disasters of the year, but that one is yours.
But this one is not about Obama, Drago. True, he increases the odds of a really bad result. But China was always going to stop growing at a rate that allowed its lying and inflating its numbers to continue.
They have no exit strategy when their economy is sinking and those few million extra boys are sitting idle.
The quality of the candidates this year aside, I really must say that in string after string, the quality of the commenters here has really plummeted from that of 2012. So many of you are so tedious and dull and dim.
Mark: "The quality of the ............"
I'm sorry, your post was so tedious, dull and dim (not a Law Firm!) I couldn't quite get to the end.
Would you mind terribly upping your game?
It's not that I know better, it's just that my nose - due to millions of years of evolution - can smell bull shit.
Just not your own bull shit or your party's own bull shit, Party of Trump guy.
Did you mean thread instead of string, Mark? Bot or not?
Birkel: "They have no exit strategy when their economy is sinking and those few million extra boys are sitting idle."
This is not possible and will come as a complete shock to Thomas Friedman.
Pay attention, "Rhythm and Balls"...
The goal posts stay right where they are.
Many things surprise Thomas Friedman. We haven't the time to list them all.
Drago, I've been to Salzburg and saw where Mozart was born and where 'The Sound of Music' was filmed, but sorry, don't speak Austrian.
But if I did I could become governor of Kaleefornia!
R&B's: "Just not your own bull shit or your party's own bull shit, Party of Trump guy"
It's true. Trump is no John Edwards. Or Hillary Clinton (Rodham..Clinton..Rodham..Clinton!)
One thing is for sure, Hillary is not full of BS. Not at all. Once you get her clear of the sniper fire that is.
Trump is a garbage candidate but he's better than the other rats on deck. Cruz takes way too long to make a point. Put aside his smarmy televangelist demeanor, he has to backpedal every time Trump criticizes him. Roberts is a spineless judge and Trump called him that and said that's the justice Cruz supported. Very easy to understand. What does Cruz say? He backpedals. Cruz drones on about how Trump donated to Hillary and Harry Reid and Trump says I donated to you, too and you took the money just like all of them I have to pay protection money to. Very easy to understand.
Cruz leads with his chin. He's a terrible candidate.
Shiloh: "But if I did I could become governor of Kaleefornia!"
Just change your name to Brown and get on over to Linda Ronstadts house STAT and you just might become the governor!
mccullough got the new marching orders.
Hillary at least knows when to shut the fuck up and listen. It keeps her from spouting off as tendentiously as Trump does.
Or is that you moving goal posts again?
When it comes to voters who still value a sense of discipline in their COC (not you, I know - you have no idea what discipline is), that is at least the one area where Hillary will kick Trump's bunions. Or whatever it was in whatever foot that got him his draft deferment. (He told the reporter that she could look up which foot it was. He couldn't remember, after all). But at least he wasn't captured and tortured in Vietnam so as to wrongly be accorded war hero status.
It's like you have no idea how bad your candidate is. Again, I realize that you believe "Republican" is a synonym for "perfection" and "arrogance" a synonym for "virtue" but these are beliefs that are self-limiting. Loud with your loud-mouth base and not very interesting or popular with anyone beyond it.
But how would you know that? Life in your bubble is very comforting.
Birkel,
Your candidate sucks. Trump beat him in the SEC primary and he's from fucking Queens. He should drop out but he's too arrogant.
"Roberts is a spineless judge..."
Did you read his dissent in Obergefell?
I want to stay with this, because I'd like to shove this down your throat. You really are siding with Trump, on this notion that Ted Cruz needs to be ashamed for supporting the Roberts nomination? Trump is going to sing the praises of his new supporter Jeff Sessions, who actually voted for the Roberts confirmation, but criticize Cruz? You want to explain that one?
Hey. But at least let's give Trump some credit. He's already got the ringing endorsement of a guy with as much credibility and class and integrity as Chris Christie - his own abysmal approval ratings notwithstanding. The guy who can't discipline his stomach endorses the guy who can't discipline his mouth.
Indiscipline. It's a Republican virtue.
"Rhythm and Balls"
You keep typing the phrase "your candidate" but referencing Trump. You drunk? Because normally you are only mendacious, not ridiculous.
Chinese government is openly backing a leading candidate in the upcoming Philippine elections (Binay). Unstated quid pro quo is to drop the US alliance and come into the Chinese orbit.
Yes it's getting very 1930s out there.
mccullough:
You think I care about the horse race because you are a knave. I care about the system of government that has allowed people from around the world to come to a place governed by the rule of law so they could achieve more than ever could have happened where they started.
The system is important. And you would sell it for three magic beans.
Chuck,
His dissent? Who gives a shit about a dissent. That's symbolic crap. He saved Obamacare. He's spineless.
Birkel,
The system is done. No one is saving anything. You are as naive as you are ignorant.
buwaya puti
You remind me of someone who posts here occasionally, Bart de Palma, who used to post at Nate's original 538 site. His hyperbole er whining was off the charts regarding Obama:
"Our Republic Has Stumbled, But Has Not Yet Fallen"
My descriptive phrases do not begin to do justice to the damage these policies are doing to the country.
I wonder whether I live in America anymore when the government imposes its will in opposition to the people. That is what ruling classes do, not representatives of the people.
Somewhat amusing after the (8) years of incompetence/ineptitude of Cheney/Bush.
Dear "Birkel":
Unlike Trump's own ego, you are not important enough for me to remember which clown car candidate you're throwing in with. But like any arrogant Republican, you think it matters. It doesn't. Everyone knows that Trump is and will be your party's nominee. That's what the Party of Wall Street is left with when Mr. Wall Street enters the foray. Game over.
So given that you are about as balls-to-the-walls an incurious and uncritical partisan hack as they come, it's obvious you're going to vote for the Republican nominee if you bother to vote this November. But party comes first for you. So yes, He's "your candidate". You may hate it. You may wish it weren't so.
But you don't matter. Remember, you've tied your political life and your very fate to a party that tells all it's supporters that none of them matter. Only their largest donors matter, and I doubt you're one of them.
Billionaire Birkel. Ha hahahahahaha. Nice ring to it, though.
There used to be a time -- again, 2012 -- when you could find some of the best, smartest, insightful commenters on election matters here. Back then, Ritmo was one of the few bad ones. Still is bad, of course, but now there are many -- on both sides -- who are just as bad if not worse. Now things are no better here than they are at Hot Air or Ace or PJ or NRO.
Hillary knows to sell corporate favors like indulgences from regulatory compliance. She will have a wonderful time with this now that she has a bureaucracy that can make any rule, at all, with no appeal. She will be able to rule by decree. By secret decree. To be announced by some functionary as and when it suits them. This all was made possible by Roberts.
"Rhythm and Balls"
I was just commenting about how you are not oriented toward a party. You could support either the socialist or the Communist. Unlike me who is devoted to a system of governance played out nicely in The Federalist Papers.
You deserve the nihilists like mccullough. Enjoy the Burning Times.
Fuck you too, Mark. Your party sucks and you're all butthurt shooting the messenger just because I call 'em like I see 'em.
But you don't see shit. I get that.
So celebrate the lies that your party leaders are telling you. If my comments are so worthless, you don't need to read them. You've already got your Party-Approved talking points bookmarked and hot listed in your browser window, along with everything else you jack off to.
R&B's: "The guy who can't discipline his stomach endorses the guy who can't discipline his mouth."
The Bill Clinton brigade takes to lecturing others on "discipline" just in time for Hillary's campaign.
Well played.
We already know Hillary is disciplined. Disciplined enough to lead the attack on the victims of her husband. But that doesn't count 'cuz Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome.
Let's just hope Hillary doesn't seek treatment at the VA. That would not work out well.
buwaya puti:
And people will be made poorer, to boot. That is the goal for those with Will to Power.
Surreal; a legit candidate for President referencing his diiiiiick in a debate. It really is turning into an Idiocracy world.
R&B's: "But you don't see shit. I get that."
One very effective way to avoid having to see s*** is to avoid Occupy Wall Street locations.
There are others as well.
No idea about that person.
The current situation is critical, and I don't blame Obama for most of it. He is a symptom, not a cause. For that matter so is Hilary.
It really is bad out there.
buwaya puti: "It really is bad out there."
It's been bad out there for a couple million years.
Francis Fukuyama was "just a bit outside" in his "The End of History..." thesis.
Hey "Birkowitz". Methinks the nihilist is the doofus who can't see that his party's down the shitter because they can't tell the difference between 2016 and 1776. If you need to, I'll get you a calendar and we can see if that helps. And then I can buy you an atlas so that you can learn the difference between Scandinavia and the USSR. As it stands, the only communist dictatorship left of note is the one that your party (Cruz's meaningless rhetorical masturbation notwithstanding) wants to turn our country into: The People's Republic of China. Your party's power brokers love that country. Can't get enough of it. They want our economy to be like theirs (based on all the same bubbles and phony speculation) and shit labor laws and no environmental protections whatsoever. So it seems to me if the only people wanting to turn American into a communist country like China are your Republicans, maybe they must be the communists. They are all for the same corporatism and intertwining of market with state. But hey, you've got a true belief in someone who believes he took a time machine and time-traveled back to 1776. I guess when I become so senile as to forget what year it is I'll be rip-roaring to throw in with the perpetual Number #2, myself. Let's hear it for Number #2- TOM CRUZ.
I mean, Ted Cruz.
Not that you could tell the difference from how effeminate he was.
"Rhythm and Balls"
You have a map with the USSR on it? How often do you fap at it?
Drago - you have a very fatal flaw: You can't see when your attacks don't stick. You are soo in love with them. You are like a Trump this way. It's not good. Four bankruptcies and a net worth that didn't grow at a pace greater than the DJIA. How will you live with yourself.
You don't seem to get that almost no one LIKES Hillary. She's as bad as they come.
But then you gave us Trump.
Not all of us are too dumb to understand the meaning of "the lesser of two evils" this year.
But hey. Your party has a revolution to throw.
Revolution on.
Trump is your guy. All insult, no consistency or integrity.
Enjoy this while it lasts.
Birkel,
Madison and Hamilton had some important disagreements so following The Federalist Papers isn't possible since they internally conflict. Quit being a simpleton. Plus there are 27 Amendments to the Constitution after the federalist papers were published.
You could support either the socialist or the Communist."
Let the record show I can't quite figure out/understand the Sander's "movement" ie basically unemployed 'til age 39 until he became a career politician. Yea, he's been talking revolution the past (45) years.
Only in America! er Vermont!
He does have one thing in common with Trump as they both inherited $$$ from daddy.
You have a map with the USSR on it? How often do you fap at it?
About as often as you suck Rubio and Cruz's donors penises.
Can Sheldon Adelson even see his penis? He is a very rotund man.
I guess you could be the one to help answer that question. You would know the answer much better than I would.
mccullough:
I believe you read The Federalist Papers. Really. I do.
Titus?
Birkelstocks:
How often do you fap to a map of Tiananmen Square?
I bet you really admire the People's Republic for how it gunned down those protestors.
After all, they must have reminded you of the OWS crowd.
Lena Dunam & pals never shut up about their vaginas. Now the leading Repub candidate is talking about his penis. Oh tempora! Oh mores!
Between Hilary and Trump there is a critical distinction - she is or will be the head of not just the official structures of the Federal bureaucratic monster, but she will also control the unofficial structures of that beast. She will be not just its head, but its master. Trump will just be its head, and if I don't miss my guess the beast will be balky.
Considering that this bureacratic beast is the most critical danger to this country, I don't think it is prudent to put someone at its head who will be enthusiastic about its power. I don't know if Trump will tame it, prune it, or become it's master, but we know exactly what Clinton will do.
Birkel,
Just follow the yellow brick road. Should be simple enough for even you to understand.
I remind everyone that it was BIRKEL who first brought up talk of masturbation, or just sex talk in general.
But hey. His party's going for a guy whom another candidate joked about having a small penis, who then felt a need to correct the point tonight at the next debate.
Because hey. Penis size is really important to Republican audiences.
It's a really serious party, folks. Birkel says so. Can't tell what year it is or why the People's Republic of China is a bad model to emulate. But he knows that his party means serious business this year.
Finally.
Blogger shiloh said...
You could support either the socialist or the Communist."
Let the record show I can't quite figure out/understand the Sander's "movement" ie basically unemployed 'til age 39 until he became a career politician. Yea, he's been talking revolution the past (45) years.
Only in America! er Vermont!
He does have one thing in common with Trump as they both inherited $$$ from daddy.
I keep reading you've been gone for 7/8 years. It looks like you're a Hillary supporter.
From this information, I have a question. How much is Hillary paying you to post here?
R&B's: "Trump is your guy. All insult, no consistency or integrity."
So now you believe I'm a Trump supporter as well as some sort of political operative.
One more and you've got a hat trick!
Again, stating the obvious, in the final analysis Trump's "genius" is he really doesn't give a shit regardless. Win or lose he's still a billionaire. Wonder how many side bets he has w/his billionaire buddies.
He's probably already won some bets by getting this far.
Rhythm and Balls: "I remind everyone that it was BIRKEL who first brought up talk of masturbation, or just sex talk in general."
I've got to believe that Dr Ruth got there long before Birkel.
R&B's: "But hey. His party's going for a guy whom another candidate joked about having a small penis, who then felt a need to correct the point tonight at the next debate."
Why can't those guys just stick to slamming cigars up interns?!
I mean, let's keep it respectable!
Well, not that I don't doubt you can misunderstand everything, but Trump definitely seems to like your style of political discourse, whether you support him or not.
Shiloh: "Again, stating the obvious,...."
Where's Mark with tedious, dull and dim tags? That guy is never around when you need him!
Rhythm and Balls: "Well, not that I don't doubt you can misunderstand everything, but Trump definitely seems to like your style of political discourse, whether you support him or not"
Hmmm, I'll add mind-reading to your "many" other "skills".
Thank you, buwaya puti, for staying above it all. I believe you have the measure, exactly. Hillary will be fully supported by the bureaucracy. Trump, however would get support from Republicans as he passed mostly Left-leaning policies.
Damned either way, really.
Why can't those guys just stick to slamming cigars up interns?!
Who exactly is this line supposed to appeal to or even mean anything to? The year is 2016. We have an election where some 1990s president and his sex habits are not on the ballot. Do you really think that everyone or even anyone resonates with the long stretches of imagination you call up on cue? What is this, six degrees of Monica Lewinsky's vagina? Do you even remember that no one cared about it then, let alone now?
We're talking about Trump and how unserious this man you're not clear on whether you support or not happens to be. Again, voting booths are not time machines.
<@>
This is not a minor piece of foolishness. I fear the Chinese are not as reasonable, at the moment, as you think they should be.
I expect that shortly, probably this year, the Chinese will start making the government's there offers they can't refuse, regarding alliances, bases and trade agreements.
Given Chinese dependency on export markets, a beefier naval presence able to ensure access for ones goods has bee a pretty common strategy since mercantilism. As China's power and role in the international system advances, the best approach is to work in congress with helming them manage this growth in a responsible manner. A smarter, more pragmatic approach would grant to the Chinese their improved stature and their stake in the game. The US should recognize China's sphere of influence in the region and cede to them primary responsibility for maintaining stability in their neighborhood. Through offshore balancing, we could retain the capacity to intervene military if such a situation ever presented itself. It is natural for smaller Asian states to seek security arrangements and deals from large powers. For the most part, I find these arrangements terrible ideas. They tend to antagonize the very power the smaller state should be seeking to reconcile with, and it encourages smaller states to engage in more aggressive behavior under the assumption that they can back up their statement through their new big military buddy. Unfortunately, sane states know that the US and Russia are not going to unleash nuclear armageddon over the political sovereignty of Estonia or Montenegro.
Putin's intervention in Ukraine following the effort to shift its basic political alliance westward to the European Union was a bad miscalculation that will likely end up costing him more than it gains for him in the long run. What is not helpful is Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs (and wife of Robert Kagan, dauphine of the Kagan neocon family dynasty), mulling it over on the phone with Geoffrey Pyatt, US Ambassador to Ukraine, who should be the next prime minister of Ukraine.
I would guess that if it was discovered that Russia was using cover operatives to organize political events and build support for a candidate that they believe would be in their national interest, we would respond legitimately and correctly with outrage and scorn. Americans are quite correct to want to instinctually protect their sovereignty from outside influence. Yet we have convinced ourselves that we can continually treat states in a manner that we would find intolerable. Those are the seeds of truth that foreign autocrats are able to utilize in propaganda campaigns against the US. Hugo Chavez was a misguide baboon prone to outlandish conspiracy theories, but Latin American citizens have legitimate grievances against treatment and behavior by the US government. The Iranian mullahs are totalitarian thugs who desire a kind of society I would find wholly intolerable. Perfectly true statement. But it is similarly true that the US has a history of intervening in Iranian society in ways that were quite destructive to property and human life.
The US needs to abandon the global hegemonic it designed in the early post-Soviet period and then began to put in place from the beginning of the Clinton presidency on. The two most serious concerns that the US has about Russia and China is their ability to contain American military power. The 21st century would be much better served if the three big powers recognized that hegemony is illusory for all of them, and the most stable, pragmatic solution is to work together in a Metternichian congress of powers.
What mind reading? I know how colorful and personal you make things, and I know how colorful and personal Trump makes things. If it's not the same style, it's very similar.
Here's an idea for a poll:
Should the U.S. be more like Scandinavia or the People's Republic of China?
I want to recommend equally implausible things.
R&B's: "Who exactly is this line supposed to appeal to or even mean anything to?"
Oh, I don't know. Clinton supporters who speak of "respectability" in Presidential aspirants.
Further, it seems to me that there is one particular candidate, quite respectable and nimble (as she can dodge sniper fire), who played a bit of a role in setting up a young intern to be labeled rather psychopathic for daring to claim to have had intimate relations with a very respectable politician in a very respectable setting.
#WarOnWomen!!
But, since that activity on the part of Hillary! was so very very very long ago (like, a century or something, just like the drafting of the Constitution), I guess it's cool if we pretend it never happened.
Scandinavia is not a country.
I refuse to compare apples to oranges.
Birkel: "I refuse to compare apples to oranges."
In fairness, we could say oranges to apples. No one ever gives oranges their due.
I would say I am flexible on that issue, Drago, but then flexibility took on some negative connotations tonight.
File 12:04 under: "Campaign Literature that Will Never Be Read (And Shouldn't Have Been Written)"
eric, not a Hillary "supporter" but again, elections come down to choices. Vote or stay home. I've only given $$$ to one candidate ever, Obama.
It does appear the stars are starting to align for Hillary, much like they did for Obama. After Hoover the Dems won 5 in a row. After Cheney/Bush ... to be determined.
The Dems do have a major electoral advantage, Trump notwithstanding. If the economy doesn't take a downturn, gas price is low, etc. and the Reps nominate a "billionaire" raging lunatic or a con senator nobody likes.
Yes Virginia, the Reps are now the gang who can't shoot straight. Claiming the title from the Dems of old.
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And my vacation from Althouse was 3 years, 3mos. With no withdrawal symptoms. It just seemed like (8) years! The time in between elections is so much minutiae so why bother.
>
Again, Reps can only come up with so many descriptions of how Obama sucks.
The debate was more elevated than this comment thread.
David: "The debate was more elevated than this comment thread."
Well, to be fair, they had a larger budget and Green Room snacks.
Never underestimate the power of Green Room snacks.
"The debate was more elevated than this comment thread."
And this is surprising how? More "debaters" = more ad hominems. Although Trump's aura er legend does loom large encompassing several personalities.
Plus none of us is running for president.
shiloh: "eric, not a Hillary "supporter"..."
Why not?
Isn't she the plucky upstart and underdog?
Who can forget how she overcame deprivation and poverty as she left the White House "dead broke"? Plus, again, sniper fire. And let's face it, once you've overcome sniper fire you are a changed person!
Your lack of support for Hillary strikes me as ungenerous given her "up from her bootstraps" struggle.
Drago
Several rhetorical questions lol. Hillary "is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma". ok, ok, she isn't that clever.
But she is a survivor, much like her hubby.
@ Drago: I exactly characterized Trump's position on killing terrorists' families, including children. He was pressed to abandon it, and he refused, instead trying to justify it by pointing to atrocities by terrorists. From the transcript:
---------
BAIER: Mr. Trump, just yesterday, almost 100 foreign policy experts signed on to an open letter refusing to support you, saying your embracing expansive use of torture is inexcusable. General Michael Hayden, former CIA director, NSA director, and other experts have said that when you asked the U.S. military to carry out some of your campaign promises, specifically targeting terrorists’ families, and also the use of interrogation methods more extreme than waterboarding, the military will refuse because they’ve been trained to turn down and refuse illegal orders.
So what would you do, as commander-in-chief, if the U.S. military refused to carry out those orders?
TRUMP: They won’t refuse. They’re not going to refuse me. Believe me.
BAIER: But they’re illegal.
TRUMP: Let me just tell you, you look at the Middle East. They’re chopping off heads. They’re chopping off the heads of Christians and anybody else that happens to be in the way. They’re drowning people in steel cages. And he — now we’re talking about waterboarding.
This really started with Ted, a question was asked of Ted last — two debates ago about waterboarding. And Ted was, you know, having a hard time with that question, to be totally honest with you. They then came to me, what do you think of waterboarding? I said it’s fine. And if we want to go stronger, I’d go stronger, too, because, frankly...
(APPLAUSE)
... that’s the way I feel. Can you imagine — can you imagine these people, these animals over in the Middle East, that chop off heads, sitting around talking and seeing that we’re having a hard problem with waterboarding? We should go for waterboarding and we should go tougher than waterboarding. That’s my opinion.
BAIER: But targeting terrorists’ families?
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And — and — and — I’m a leader. I’m a leader. I’ve always been a leader. I’ve never had any problem leading people. If I say do it, they’re going to do it. That’s what leadership is all about.
BAIER: Even targeting terrorists’ families?
TRUMP: Well, look, you know, when a family flies into the World Trade Center, a man flies into the World Trade Center, and his family gets sent back to where they were going — and I think most of you know where they went — and, by the way, it wasn’t Iraq — but they went back to a certain territory, they knew what was happening. The wife knew exactly what was happening.
They left two days early, with respect to the World Trade Center, and they went back to where they went, and they watched their husband on television flying into the World Trade Center, flying into the Pentagon, and probably trying to fly into the White House, except we had some very, very brave souls on that third plane. All right?
@Birkel:
"J. Farmer believes in Fortress America. He is also oddly focused on race.
China is at a moment of existential crisis because it cannot keep the economy growing. Doing nothing risks revolution within China. They must become more militaristic to rally support for a flagging government. What other choice has any government with similar policies ever chosen, toward the end?"
I do not believe in "Fortress America." We could easily scale back large pieces of the military and probably decreases overall defense spending by about half without suffering any appreciable increase in security risk. US military interventions abroad so far have mostly served to exacerbate earlier, smaller threats. The US has a chronic problem with threat inflation, taking real but manageable geostrategic threats and blowing them all out of proportion to the actual risk they pose. By insisting that the US play a dominant role in the affairs of those countries, we will always be inserting ourselves into a low-grade social civil war and will thus become targets for one revolutionary side or another.
Modern conservatism is born from the critique of the French Revolution. The entire point of the movement is to caution extreme skepticism of revolutionary movements. Even those with the absolute best of intentions have a bad habit of degrading into rampant bloodbaths.
And while I know hawkish intervention types are loathe to hear a negative word about Israel, our ironclad commitment to maintaining that client-state will ensure that the US and US citizens are conscripted on the front lines for the defense of a foreign power. Bizarre. Is there another country in the modern western world where success as a major political figure is absolutely dependent on one's willingness to make the most over-the-top, obsequious to the Israeli political establishment?
I sure miss Carly.
I'm thinking she would have put the kibosh on the penis topic.
David: "The debate was more elevated than this comment thread."
Well, to be fair, they had a larger budget and Green Room snacks.
Never underestimate the power of Green Room snacks.
This was a better comment without the last sentence. Resist the urge to explain! Even though I am explaining now. Fiction editors will sometimes write this as RUE! Still it was a very funny comment.
Kasich not only has no path to the White House, he has no path to the Vice-Presidency.
For a guy who is supposed to be a budget balancer, he is having trouble with math.
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