Bluff And Counterbluff

WTF is it now? From Ben Smith and Buzzfeed (I know...)

Donald Trump Secretly Told The New York Times What He Really Thinks About Immigration

The New York Times is sitting on an audio recording that some of its staff believes could deal a serious blow to Donald Trump who, in an off-the-record meeting with the newspaper, called into question whether he would stand by his own immigration views.

Trump visited the paper’s Manhattan headquarters on Tuesday, Jan. 5, part of a round of editorial board meetings that — as is traditional — the Democratic candidates for president and some of the Republicans attended. The meetings, conducted partly on the record and partly off the record in a 13th floor conference room, give candidates a chance to make their pitch for the paper’s endorsement.

...

imes editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal told me he would not comment “on what was off the record at our meeting with him.”

“If [Trump] wants to call up and ask us to release this transcript, he’s free to do that and then we can decide what we would do,” Rosenthal said.

Trump, whose spokeswoman didn’t respond immediately to an email, can resolve this mystery: He can ask the Times to release the tape. Will he?

Dueling transcripts! Will Hillary put out her Goldman tapes before the Trump tapes emerge?

So, is this an invented story, or are Times reporters sitting on HUGE news? Try a different question - does Dealmaker Trump seem like the sort of guy who would say different things to different audiences? If he does, can we trust the Times to sit on this through November? This is obviously nothing like the LA Times protecting Obama by sitting on his Palestinian tribute tape.

Or they don't have a tape but don't like Trump either - as a different lib noted in advocating Stop Trump Now crossover primary votes for Rubio:

Although it’s highly likely Trump would lose a general election, there are no guarantees. Hillary Clinton could be indicted. Terrorists could strike two days before Americans head out to vote. If nothing else, the course of the presidential race so far should instill a healthy modesty in anyone inclined to make blanket assertions about what will happen in six months.

But on yet another hand, I have a copy of Trump's 1999 book, "The America We Deserve". Back then he was pro-choice, favored the assault weapons ban, and advocated for a one-time "wealth tax" that is probably unconstitutional.

But his economic nationalism flag was flying then, and on immigration he wanted real border controls and spoke well of deportation. So on that one issue, he may not have waffled with the NY Times.

Lots more by AllahPundit at HotAir, who sniffs a nothingburger.

Comments

[hrtshpdbox]

First!

[Captain Hate]

[Redacted for Lent] any threads about Ben Smith and Buzzkill.

[henry]

Thread and counter-thread.

consistency may be the hobgoblin of small minds... but this is ridiculous.

So we now have 2 things Trump appears to believe continually:

1. eminent domain should benefit Trump
2. he wants to kick illegales out.

[narciso]

they did commit random acts of journalism during the ben carson interlude, but that falls into blind squirrel territory,

Carlos Slims already endorsed mailman's son, no?

[lyle]

Reposted:

http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2016/02/immigration-or-iphone_26.html

The public argument between Apple and the FBI over cracking the encryption on an iPhone used by the San Bernardino Muslim terrorists is one of those ongoing civil liberties debates that negotiate the terms on which we are asked to sacrifice our civil liberties for the sake of Muslim immigration.

[snip]

Ongoing Muslim migration makes a police state inevitable. But to avoid the perils of profiling and the appearance of discrimination, it will be a universal police state that will strip away rights from everyone without regard to guilt or innocence in the hopes of averting the next Muslim terror attack.

The only way to protect our lives and our freedoms from Muslim terrorism and its consequences is by shutting down Muslim immigration. If we fail to do this, then we will lose our lives and our liberties.

To me, this is the most important part of immigration that doesn't get talked about.

[hrtshpdbox]

From OL last thread:

The whole point of your post was to either say Trump lied about being audited twelve years in a row, or else he was caught cheating in every year.

My intent actually was to show how someone could be audited 12 years running, which I hadn't really ever heard of previously. Trump's original contention that he was being audited because of his Christian views (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/02/26/donald-trump-suggests-he-was-audited-because-of-his-strong-christian-faith-heres-why-thats-unlikely/) did not pass the smell test. But you're right, I also thought it interesting that the IRS can't keep auditing if they're not finding something amiss, though I agree that a massive tax return would likely have something to pick on. Mostly, I think Trump's excuse about why he can't release his prior returns is probably bs (because I think he's got poor character and probably lies a lot, what can I say?).

[narciso]

about those Iranian moderates,

https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss/status/704388936299372544/photo/1

[Old Lurker]

"(because I think he's got poor character and probably lies a lot, what can I say?)"

See, hrts, I'm not gonna try to argue THAT one!

:-)

[derwill]

We were audited three years in a row in the 90s. (We had a number of rental properties and other somewhat unusual--but still legal--deductions that tend to flag one's return). In all three years they found discrepancies--in our favor, so that the IRS ended up having to cut us a check. We used to joke that they finally quit auditing us because it was costing them too much money.

[Porchlight]

Question: why would the NYT give Trump an opportunity to say anything at all? Why wouldn't they just go ahead and publish?

You know, like the LAT did with the Khalidi tape. Oh never mind.

[James D]

lyle @ 2:44

That Sultan Knish piece is fantastic, and chilling. I think this is worth quoting, too:

Vociferous debates over the choice between civil liberties and security make it seem as if we have to choose between our worldviews because something in our society is the problem. It isn't.

We do not have an American terror network problem. The Amish aren't using iPhones or obscure apps to coordinate terror attacks. We have a Muslim terror network problem. It's not because of the Methodists that we have to weigh our mouthwash or take our shoes off and put them in a greasy plastic tray at the airport. It's because 19 Muslims entered this country, hijacked our airplanes and murdered thousands of Americans. Guantanamo Bay is not an issue because Buddhists are at war with America. It's an issue because Muslim terrorists are at war with America.

We do not have an iPhone encryption problem or a shoe problem or a mouthwash problem. We have a Muslim terror problem. Whatever decision is made about iPhone encryption will not be the last word. The simple reality is that privacy carries too high a price as long as we have large numbers of people in this country who want to kill us in equally large numbers.

[narciso]

That link reminds of German moderates like gehlen or karl wolf f.

[Old Lurker]

derwill, as soon as you start to pay experts by the hour to do tax returns and to respond to the IRS, two things are inevitable: You stop taking legal deductions that are known to flag attention, and secondly, if the IRS writes and claims you owe them more money, one quickly has to decide how much winning the issue will cost in legal and accounting fees - and stress that the cancer will spread - vs just paying them to go away. That break-point is personal to each taxpayer, but for high dollar taxpayers it has to been a very large demand from the IRS to justify fighting past the first exchange of letters.

[clarice]

Trump still rising.https://plus.google.com/+DougMataconis/posts/gkwHWDVFNAr

[Old Lurker]

My 3:02 is true for medium rich people. Beyond that level, those guys have their tax lawyers and accountants more or less on staff and they might well fight everything as a matter of policy. And the IRS might back off because of that.

[Threadkiller]

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/02/29/ny-judge-to-hear-case-on-cruz-eligibility/

[derwill]

OL, don't I know it. One time when we were just starting out and our taxes were relatively simple, the IRS sent us a check for a few hundred dollars, claiming that we had overpaid. We were surprised, but we figured they had to know what they were doing right? So we cashed the check. Three months later we got a letter from the IRS claiming that we owed them the amount that they had paid us, PLUS interest. We tried to argue that it wasn't fair we should have to pay an interest penalty on a mistake that they made. We lost.

[Threadkiller]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/29/politics/donald-trump-event-protest-rally/

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Angelo Codevilla;
Trump? Yeah, not a fan.

[Barry Dauphin]

I guess "off-the-record" doesn't mean what it used to.

[Porchlight]

Heh, Barry Dauphin.

Good to see you, BTW! I found JustOneMinute through Roger Simon and then YARGB.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Donald Trump converts to Catholicism; Decides to Run For Pope.
Hilarious and by a gifted mimic.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Here's the whole Trump Running For Pope Gag.
Really funny.

[Barry Dauphin]

Hi Porchilight,

Several of us YARGBs met on Roger L Simon's blog, including Rick Ballard and Charlie Martin. Seems like eons ago.

[Truthbetold]

Donald Trump Is a Scam. Evangelical Voters Should Back Away (CP Editorial)

http://www.christianpost.com/news/donald-trump-scam-evangelical-voters-back-away-cp-editorial-158813/

[Threadkiller]

http://m.therightscoop.com/watch-john-oliver-eviscerates-donald-trump/

The Left Scoop

[Porchlight]

Barry - it sure does. Those were fun days. It was exciting to find such cool people.

[James D]

TBT, you can take that John Oliver link and shove it where the sun doesn't shine.

We don't need to be lectured by a worthless Daily Show-wannabe prog jackass.

[DrJ]

Allow me to post some good news, and news not related to politics.

I learned earlier today that my most recent NIH grant submission will fund, barring something really unusual. Once again it was a first submission -- only the second time that has happened -- and it is on the topic of tools for fundamental cancer research. The amount is a bit more than $700K.

What makes it really gratifying is that it is an "academic" grant mechanism. While companies can apply, overwhelmingly the applicants (and ultimate awardees) are from Universities around the country. So my dinky company beat these academics! Feels great!

FWIW, the funding rate for the solicitation is between 8% and 10%, so the competition was fierce.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

A bit of unbelievable news considering the state it occurred in; California Board of Equalization votes to lower gasoline excise tax 2.2 cents per gallon.
Won't that encourage more driving and CO2 emissions?
Chicken Little hardest hit.

[boris]

Congrats DrJ

[lyle]

Congrats, DrJ. Hope you treat yourself to a nice bottle of wine tonight. Or soon.

[rse]

Congrats Dr J.

Just as long as it doesn't involve that BRAIN Institute I have been tracking in alarm.

[lyle]

I wonder what Codevilla thinks of Hilligula, Ig. As I read that piece, I thought you could replace The Hag for every Trump personal noun or pronoun and it would read the same.

[Dave (in MA)]

TBT, you can take that John Oliver link and shove it where the sun doesn't shine.

Yeah, TBT should take TK's link and cram it.

[Threadkiller]

I agree.

[Threadkiller]

Mitt Romney 

✔‎@MittRomney

A disqualifying & disgusting response by@realDonaldTrump to the KKK. His coddling of repugnant bigotry is not in the character of America.

10:22 AM - 29 Feb 2016

[Old Lurker]

Great job, DrJ.

[DrJ]

Thanks all! Tonight is a good bottle of vino. When the Notice of Award comes in, it will be time for a great one.

rse,

I know one of the Program Directors in the BRAIN Institute of NIMH. He used to be responsible for one of my awards at NIGMS. He went to NIMH over his protestations that he didn't know anything about the brain. The response was that it was the same old thing that he always has done, just with a different organ.

I understand the origin of your concern, but I think you are a bit paranoid about this.

[lyle]

http://thepeoplescube.com/peoples-blog/if-you-love-cute-fuzzy-creatures-vote-for-bernie-t17618.html

Click and scroll down.

[Dave (in MA)]

Huzzah, DrJ.

[James D.]

That's fantastic news, DrJ! Congrats!

[jimmyk]

Congrats, DrJ!

The Trump converting to Catholicism schtick somehow reminds me of the dentist on Seinfeld who converted to Judaism "for the jokes." Seinfeld complains to his former priest:

Priest: And this offends you as a Jew?
Seinfeld: No, it offends me as a comedian!

[Neo]

"... "wealth tax" that is probably unconstitutional."

When has the SCOTUS ever done anything using a "plain reading" of the 9th Amendment ?

[Ann]

Mitt is a petty man.

Btw, I listen to Rush everyday. It is PREPOSTEROUS to believe he is for amnesty or illegal immigration.

[James D.]

Dave @ 4:01

Oops!

So much for reading comprehension :)

[rse]

Dr J-I get there newsletter and it is quite graphic as to what is being sought. I also have read what is being funded on the neurological effects of a concept mapping emphasis and recognize that every curricula in the new federal K-12 legislation only gets funding if it is concept based.

I know it's not all bad because I get the distributions, but the aspect tied to K-12 deserves paranoia. Frequently though the really troubling part may not be clear to the PIs involved. I read a paper out of carnegie on the Learning Sphere where the PI knew how he would use what he created, but failed to appreciate what it would be used for in the classroom.

Red has a friend who is a biochem major interested in neurobiology and I told her she should be getting that newsletter and follow everything being done.

[Ann]

Congratulations, Dr. J

[Thomas Collins]

Great news, DrJ! Congrats!

Perhaps the recording will get Duke and Duke in Trump's corner.

[NK]

Congrats Dr. J!

[NK]

and if I may: daughter has to choose between Univ of Edinburgh and Pratt Inst Bklyn for her Masters Architectural Preservation, she got the Bklyn word today. Edinburgh is traditional academics, Pratt is like a vocational school with very high job rate after degree is conferred. The little girl has to make a choice.

[Truthbetold]

James D & Dave

Perhaps you should direct your vitriol at the person who posted the John Oliver link.

[narciso]

Congrats Dr. J.

[Captain Hate]

Congratulations DrJ.

I agree with my fellow Ahian, Ann, on Romney and Rush.

[derwill]

Congrats, Dr. J!

------

If Trump wins the primary fair and square by accumulating enough delegates, because of, you know, actual live-body voters voting for him, do any of you all think that the GOPe would really run Romney as an independent?

Because to me that seems as insanely self-defeating as if they all gathered on the Capitol steps and drank from a barrel of poisoned kool-aid. Or am I missing something?

[Old Lurker]

NK!!!

[Thomas Collins]

And congrats to Soon to be Masters Candidate Daughter of NK! I'm sure NK will provide wise counsel on the choice (and probably be listened to as much as I am by my kids when I provide counsel).

[James D.]

Sorry, TBT. Dave did point out my error.

[Captain Hate]

Good news, NK.

[Frau Zubrowka]

Einfach toll, Doktor Jot! Ich gratuliere.

[lyle]

Perhaps you should direct your vitriol at the person who posted the John Oliver link.

Maybe, but your continued and repetitive tendentiousness deserves its own general purpose vitriol.

[lyle]

that seems as insanely self-defeating as if they all gathered on the Capitol steps and drank from a barrel of poisoned kool-aid.

It may well be "self-defeating," but I'd pay good money to watch it. :)

[Lazybusy]

NK, two of my daughters each did a semester at Edinburgh, though not in architechture. I can't comment on the academic aspect but will say the visits will be much more interesting in Edinburgh.

[Truthbetold]

lyle

You've never heard a complaint from me. Bring it on.

[lyle]

As you wish:

You're tendentious and boring.

That is all.

[jimmyk]

I wonder what Codevilla thinks of Hilligula

Codevilla's points have been made by others. Somehow they are not persuading the masses. So will Codevilla join the #NeverTrump crowd and refuse to vote for Trump if it's Trump vs. Hillary in the general, thereby helping to elect Hillary, probably the most vile creature ever to be nominated for the office?

Again, I don't support Trump, but at this point I would vote for him if he's the nominee. Anything to keep Hillary (or Bernie, or any Dem) out of the White House.

[Truthbetold]

lyle

Where as the majority of the comments on this board help fill the empty hole in your life. Thanks, now it makes sense.

[lyle]

Whatevs, Tbt. I only post here because I think I'm such a witty fellow...

[Truthbetold]

How sad.

[cheerleader]

Don Trump Jr.'s behavior

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrlsIPxa-sI

[Barbara]

Re-posted:

These sorts of stories only tell me that the "High Cabal", as Winston Churchill referred to those who move the pieces on the chess board behind the scenes, is extremely worried that the voters may just temporarily remove them from manipulating the election this year.

Republican or Democrat, they are all the same. This has never been more apparent than
during the reign of Barack Obama. There are only a few brave elected people out there who have gone against this combined Dem/Rep establishment. One is Jeff Sessions and I pray that he has good security.

Look for more {{{alarming}}} headlines to appear in the weeks to come as the Cabal tries to manipulate the voters into slitting their own throats. I'm with those who "will crawl over cut glass" to vote for the guy who is NOT Hillary. In this case until proven otherwise, that person is Trump. All the rest of the stories you see about him and the election are just chaff.

Posted by: Barbara | February 29, 2016 at 04:38 PM

[rse]

jimmy-the vituperation is astounding. Roger Kimball has a post up at PJ referring to him as a 'reprobate'.

How could anyone who loves this country take the position that they would rather have hillary in charge of the military and foreign policy over trump?

[lyle]

How sad.

I know!

[Barbara]

Anything to keep Hillary (or Bernie, or any Dem) out of the White House.

Exactly, jimmyk.

[Porchlight]

Great post, Barbara.

Some regular folks are in the throes of refusing to accept the inevitable as well, and are lashing out more than usual.

[Porchlight]

And I don't mean here at JOM. On my FB groups, one in particular. It's rough going over there.

[Truthbetold]

Porch

And you are willing to accept the same old "less of to evils" crap without putting up a fight.

[Barbara]

Thank you, Porch!

[henry]

In the navy it is the lesser of two weevils.

[Porchlight]

TBT is completely dished, henry.

[Truthbetold]

Porch

Trump working deals with Soros does not concern you?

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

I will never learn my lesson re tar babies and so let me try again [someone please get some paint thinner for me]
TBT; to my knowledge the only person here who has expressed no misgivings about Trump is "cheerleader" who used to be known as "jojo".
MM, Porch, even TK have all acknowledged Trump has some serious flaws. They may not think they are as serious as you do but the recognize he is far from ideal and very far from someone like Reagan.
Almost all of them prefer someone else first.
All recognize that sometimes you do have to put on your big boy jeans and vote for a creep to avoid a bigger creep. No one likes that and it is no ones preference, but that is reality.
There is no point in brow beating people over things they do not believe or asking them questions to discern their base motives or poor choices when they have made their motives and reasoning quite plain.

OK, rag soaked in naptha, please.

[Jane]

I'm really not believing a word Loretta Lynch is saying.

[clarice]

Great, Dr J--as long as they don't make you study the effect of global warming on cancer.

[Truthbetold]

Iggy

Save the less of the two evils crap.

[Joan]

Hmmm,

the 7:34 post, in answer to Ig's sincere effort reminded me of something.

I found it: "Shaking the dust off one’s feet conveys the same idea as our modern phrase “I wash my hands of it.” Shaking the dust off the feet is a symbolic indication that one has done all that can be done in a situation and therefore carries no further responsibility for it. In the scriptural examples, Jesus was telling His disciples that they were to preach the gospel to everyone. Where they were received with joy, they should stay and teach. But where their message was rejected, they had no further responsibility. They were free to walk away with a clear conscience, knowing they had done all they could do."

While I usually don't react to disagreement on jom with Bible references, I did this time. Probably because I think tbt's response is, in itself, crap.