Breaking Bold!

Inspired and distressed by this story about C.T.E. and The Snake, I propose my plan for undermining, right-sizing and eventually eliminating the NFL. It starts with this - have the Ivy League drop their football teams.

Why? Across out great nation we have public high schools and state universities funding football programs. New York state and the New England states could ban high school football next week and it would have an endurable cultural impact, with one caveat: Concerned parents remains as one more way for a skilled athlete but middling student to launch a career at the Ivies and other prestigious schools.

So - take away the Ivy ticket and some otherwise-concerned parents will breathe a sigh of relief and have their young stud focus on lacrosse, which is just a cultural appropriation intended to shield suburban white boys from the black athletes anyway (Don't get me started...).

Now, many schools insist that the money they collect from their football program pays for the entire athletic department and prompts all sorts of alumni bonding and donating. Fine, and I am sure for many schools it is true. But if Harvard or Yale even begin to squeak about a money problem they will be laughed out of town. And with five Ivies in the list of Top Ten university endowments, it is time for them to lead the way away from this brain-damaging morass.

So, the Ivies drop football, various states start dropping it from their high school and state college programs, and we see where we go. Obviously, Texas, Pennsylvania and Alabama will be laggards in this process, but that is what makes our Federal system so great.

So that is my Plan du Jour. Now for a second cup of coffee!

Comments

[Jeff Dobbs]

Spoken like a true Giants fan....

[Jane]

Jane

I don't know if this has been posted, but I now declare a ban:

Ruling: Ted Cruz is a 'natural born citizen'

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/ruling-ted-cruz-is-a-natural-born-citizen/article/2582259

Violations punishable by banning!

[Jane]

Why is my name at the top of that post?

[henry]

Haverford was way ahead on this move. (Hint they dropped it because they only had 12 guys show up for tryouts. The AD was my Dad's college roommate and a friend of mine while I lived in Philadelphia).

[Jeff Dobbs]

Jane

Jane:
Why is my name at the top of that post?

I don't know, it's at the top of mine too!!!!

What is going on?!!?1?!?!!?

[Captain Hate]

The Snake led a pretty wild lifestyle; I'd say there were multiple factors leading to cognitive disorders which the nuanced chimps employed by Carlos Slim miss without ever having played football.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Jane

This is weird.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Jane

TM:
Now for a second cup of coffee!

Brace yourselves people. There may well be 12 new threads.....

[Miss Marple]

We already have lacrosse here in my school district. I consider this an example of the evil influence of the East Coast cabal.

[NK]

henry-- Ivies Drop Football? FYI, Maguire lives in a LAX mad town, where the public HS team is a perennial State Champ finalist (boys and girls). Somehow I imagine TM has been planning this for years, after putting a wee LAX stick in his children's cradles instead of rattles and teething toys.

[Beasts of England]

We should absolutely ban football. No right thinking person would suggest otherwise. If it takes some sort of armed incursion into the South to get them on board, then so be it.

[Cecil Turner]

I thought that Concussion movie was pretty decent (though I don't think it merited any Oscars--but I usually don't think the winners do, either). And I gotta admit, most of the time Stabler spent on his back, I was cheering the hit that put him there. I'll go ahead and denounce myself (and beat the rush).

As for TM's plan, well, its a bold strategy Cotton, lets see if it pays off for 'em.

[NK]

BTW-- I've opined for several years that the NFL will have a real problem when youth/HS 'football' converts to 7v7 flag style football with LAX style pads and no tackling or body blocking. That will result from litigation/insurance costs and parental concern. Traditional football will only be played at the 'highest' levels. Where does the NFL get its talent? or does it convert as well.

[narciso]

they should go rollerball, mo half measures,

[Jane]

You are funny Groundhog man!

Is the Superbowl this weekend?

[Captain Hate]

Boogie Cousins: rocket surgeon

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/kings-pull-year-of-the-monkey-tees-after-demarcus-cousins-complains/ar-BBp0tHc?ocid=ansmsnsports11

[NK]

CH-- Mr Cousins has been well-schooled by the Plantation Operators "Inclusion for me ... but not for thee."

[NK]

Columbia U has a larger endowment than ND? that surprised me. Sooner than later Silicon Valley money will expand Stanford into 2d Place as dear old Yale suffers in the dying Blue Hell of Ct.

[henry]

NK, Current President Salovey is speeding that decline in inbound donations.

[Threadkiller]

http://www.wsiltv.com/story/31124713/challenges-to-cruz-on-illinois-ballot-may-not-be-over-news-3-learns

[narciso]

frank bruni, of that wretched op ed, is a unc grad,

[Miss Marple]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2016/02/03/daily-202-hard-feelings-complicate-ted-cruz-s-effort-to-consolidate-evangelical-support/56b13dc5981b92a22dedb3e6?postshare=8041454509468451&tid=ss_tw

Scroll past the Rand Paul information, and there is a discussion of the stuff that happened with Ben Carson, who is pretty upset.

Trump is tweeting about it but it is being characterized as sore loser stuff. I don't think so. Carson needs some people to come out and explain why they switched their votes.

[NK]

Loons like Mr Joyce will carry on. He can appeal to Illinois State court to challenge the final ruling of the Board. Cruz will remove the case to Federal court citing the fact it involves a Federal office. So on and so on.

[Janet]

repost from the other thread -

THis is interesting - Former lawyer for the ‘D.C. Madam’ says names in her records could be ‘relevant’ to election

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/reliable-source/wp/2016/02/02/former-lawyer-for-the-d-c-madam-says-names-in-her-records-could-be-relevant-to-election/?tid=sm_fb

"...her colorful former attorney is now seeking permission to release 815 names of Palfrey’s clients and the records of 40 other escort services operating in Washington, a pool that he’s hinting includes someone with bearing on the current political campaign."

from wiki- "Palfrey appeared on ABC's 20/20 as part of an investigative report on May 4, 2007.[11] In combination with Palfrey's statement that she had 10,000 to 15,000 phone numbers of clients, this caused several clients' lawyers to contact Palfrey to see whether accommodations could be made to keep their identities private.[12] Ultimately, ABC News, after going through what was described as "46 lb" [21 kg] of phone records, decided that none of the potential clients[13] was sufficiently "newsworthy" to bother mentioning.[14]"

It was sketchy how only a few names were released at the time. Vitter & some guy at State (I think).
***************************

The State guy was U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias.

Anyway...the other odd thing about this story is that this guy "files a motion" & the newspapers pick it up. ????

It took 9 months for the press to write about Sandy Berger stealing National Security documents. He's caught & charged & the FBI search his home....but no news stories.
Now some guy "files a motion" & we all know about it.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Trump on pro football...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/01/10/donald-trump-nfl-football-has-become-soft-like-our-country-has-become-soft/

When Donald Trump looks at America, he sees a country that has gone soft, but that’s not all. He also sees pro football, a sport that is now the national pastime, going soft, too.

In a rally attended by about 2,000 people Sunday in Reno, Nev., he hit that theme and others and placed a lot of blame on the game’s referees, saying they just throw to flags to impress their wives, who are watching at home. While he admitted that he still loves New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, the game now is just unwatchable for him.

“It’s a Sunday, who the hell wants to watch these crummy games? I just want to watch the end. By the way — okay, let me go there for a second. Let me end that story. So we gave them Iraq, we’re stupid. We’re stupid. I’ll change things. Believe me, I’ll change things. And again, we’re going to be so respected. I don’t want to use the word ‘feared.’ What I just said about a game — so I’m watching a game yesterday. What used to be considered a great tackle, a violent head-on [tackle], a violent — if that was done by Dick Butkus, they’d say he’s the greatest player. If that were done by Lawrence Taylor — it was done by Lawrence Taylor and Dick Butkus and Ray Nitschke, right? Ray Nitschke — you used to see these tackles and it was incredible to watch, right?

“Now they tackle. ‘Oh, head-on-head collision, 15 yards.’ The whole game is all screwed up. You say, ‘Wow, what a tackle.’ Bing. Flag. Football has become soft. Football has become soft. Now, I’ll be criticized for that. They’ll say, ‘Oh, isn’t that terrible.’ But football has become soft like our country has become soft. [Applause] It’s true. It’s true. The outcome of games has been changed by what used to be phenomenal, phenomenal stuff. Now these are rough guys, these are rough guys. These guys — what they’re doing is incredible, but I looked at it and I watched yesterday in particular. So many flags, right? So many flags. And I could imagine a guy like Lawrence Taylor and Dick Butkus, who was really rough, and some of these guys sitting there watching. ‘Wow, what a beautiful tackle.’ ‘Fifteen yards! That’s — the game is over.’ You can’t kick a field goal any more.”

He wasn’t finished.

“It’s become weak and you know what? It’s going to affect the NFL. I don’t even watch it as much anymore. It’s going to affect the NFL. I don’t watch it. The referees, they want to all throw flags so their wives see them at home. ‘Oh, there’s my husband.’ [Laughter] It’s true. ‘He just broke up — he just gave a 15-yard penalty on one of the most beautiful tackles made this year.’ Right?

“It’s boring — although I love Tom Brady. I gotta tell you. I do love Tom. He’s a great guy. But it’s different. But it’s become soft and our country has become soft.”

[Jeff Dobbs]

Make Football Great Again!

[narciso]

I don't know if he came to this, before the bear,

http://michellemalkin.com/2016/02/02/the-day-after-the-day-after-tomorrow-leo-dicaprio-to-produce-post-apocalyptic-climate-change-film/

skydragon must be revered,

[NK]

Ed M is correct; the loons will continue discussing this:

http://hotair.com/archives/2016/02/03/illinois-board-of-elections-declares-cruz-a-natural-born-citizen/

[Threadkiller]

I'll let you know what the loon Cboldt says, NK.

[Cecil Turner]

Trump is tweeting about it but it is being characterized as sore loser stuff.

More to the point, it shows he doesn't respect the will of the voters. He deleted the first tweet when he accused Cruz of "illegally" stealing the election, but then decided to go with the watered down version. And it's not the first time, apparently. Whether Carson is mad or not, he's clearly not viable, and voters are jumping ship. Whether anything Cruz staffers said had any effect on that, it's between them and the Carson camp, not Trump (and I think the WaPo concern is overdramatic).

There was a lot of discussion early on about how Trump would cope with adversity. If this is any indication, he's going to be in big trouble soon.

[Captain Hate]

Trump is tweeting about it but it is being characterized as sore loser stuff. I don't think so. Carson needs some people to come out and explain why they switched their votes.

This is part and parcel of why caucuses are a dumb way to conduct a primary, much less start the whole clown car process. But the Uniparty is happy with it so what does it matter what we serfs think?

[henry]

From our lurking friend, a roundup on Trump Iowa whining.

[narciso]

there's no crying in baseball, but do we think when the announcement was made, had no effect, shirley they can't be serious,

[Threadkiller]

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump

Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified.

[Jeff Dobbs]

The RCP average going into the Iowa caucuses had Carson at 7.7%

He ended up with 9.3%

That doesn't mean that Team Cruz's efforts didn't move votes away from Carson to Cruz - but going straight off of the numbers, it's hard to make the case.

(one caveat is that the last poll from emerson pegged carson at 3 - skewing the numbers. throw that one out and carson was at 8.5)

[Porchlight]

I completely disagree, CT. The Trump comment on Cruz stealing Iowa is brilliant. Here's why.

1) At first I thought it was stupid and ridiculous, like I do with many things Trump says. But because it's outrageous, it gets eyeballs way beyond Trump's twitter feed, which is already enormous

2) He doesn't really seriously think that the Iowa results would be invalidated

3) He's right that it was pretty low-rent of Cruz to do, even if it was effective at the last minute in Iowa

4) Most supporters of other candidates are still sympathetic to Carson and begin statements with "I think Carson is a great guy, but..."

5) Now a whole lot more of those voters know about Cruz's tactics re: Carson than did before

6) Trump is sitting on a huge lead in NH. He doesn't have to get these people to vote for him. He just has to get them not to vote for Cruz.

So, you tell me how stupid it is.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

I didn't realize what the Ivy League plays is actually called "football".

[Time to make a deal on a Cruz line.]

Denial, the first and most important step in grief.

My Oma took me to see Roller Derby over half a century ago. Amazing athletes!

[Beasts of England]

Can we have a pool for who was using the escort service? I doubt that it was Trump or Rubio. Just sayin'...

[Porchlight]

Beasts - it doesn't have to be a GOP candidate, or even a candidate. How about Bill?

[NK]

Jeff-- That photo reminded me of something I had not thought about for years. Trump's attempt to extort the NFL into giving him a franchise. That's why he bought a USFL franchise and instigated the antitrust lawsuit. I was in the standing room only courtroom as a spectator when the jury returned its verdict. IIRC Trump was there. The Jury held the NFL liable; he sneered when the damages was $1. ONE DOLLAR. One of the NFL trial attorney tried to give the USFL lawyer $3 including treble damages. I thought Havey Meyerson (an infamous convicted felon who destroyed a large NYC law firm-- and 86yo founder of that firm is now one of my partners.) was going to slug him. here's a link to a story about the check paying the damages
https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/donald-trump-and-the-check-that-should-have-changed-football-forever

[jimmyk on iPhone]

Carson might want to take a little responsibility for announcing that he's going to take a break, in the middle of the voting.

[Beasts of England]

Trump is playing three-dimensional football!!

[Beasts of England]

Bill is a given, Porchlight. ;)

[Jane]

Banish him Hit! He can be happy that I didn't call for the death penalty!

[narciso]

that was the same amount awarded hank greenberg, who spent 10 million on the medici, proving his sound judgement,

[henry]

Escort service users? Rove, Wilson.... could be staff / consultant types.

[Threadkiller]

Carson sent out a statement to clarify what CNN was reporting.

And Cruz admitted that they were aware of the clarification:

Last night when our political team saw the CNN post saying that Dr. Carson was not carrying on to New Hampshire and South Carolina, our campaign updated grassroots leaders just as we would with any breaking news story," Cruz said in a statement first shared with CNN. "That's fair game. What the team then should have done was send around the follow-up statement from the Carson campaign clarifying that he was indeed staying in the race when that came out."

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/02/politics/ted-cruz-ben-carson-apology/index.html

It is probably easier to believe the accidental/incidental nature of Team Cruz, if one has already accepted that the guy with photographic/audiographic* memory had no idea he spent his whole life as a dual citizen. It wasn't until a reporter told him in 2014 that je became aware of that little detail.

Uh-huh.

[narciso]

satire is dead, long after tom lehrer concluded,

http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/scott-whitlock/2016/02/02/seriously-brian-williams-proclaims-be-purveyor-truth-and-justice

[Rick Ballard]

PWT! again. I was very slightly concerned the ABT turnout in New Hampshire might be affected by the loser's performance in Iowa. The loser has now relieved my concern. He's fallen off of one dung pile by crowing too much, I believe he can do it again. And again. And again.

[Threadkiller]

Your name is probably at the top of your first post because you cut and pasted the entire message sent to you as if it was your own.

Even TBT could figure that out.

[Captain Hate]

Someone needs to tell Carson that he's sounding like McRINO blaming Rove for the old coot losing in South Carolina, where he was fortunate to find anybody dense enough to vote for him.

[Threadkiller]

Death penalty?

You are way to serious.

Chill out.

[Threadkiller]

...too...

[NK]

greenberg lost b/c the Board effin' Spitzer installed when he started the Jihad against Greenberg and the NYSE Chairman fouled up AIG's derivative's book and made AIG a mark for the Vampire Squid and EuroBanks. AIG was a bankrupt b/c of lousy trades that went against Greenberg's instructions, but the Board was doing Spitzer's bidding at that point. In the end, TARP made AIG a mere conduit for TPs to refinance GS and Credit Lyonnaise and DB. I don't have much sympathy for the arrogant greenberg, but he was not the bad actor in this case.

[narciso]

yes, but I cite that example to point out the feckless NY courts, offering no relief to govt malpractice,

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--Carson might want to take a little responsibility for announcing that he's going to take a break, in the middle of the voting.--

Uh yeah. Kinda hard to take this seriously when this is the complaint;

This is not the first time that Ted Cruz has played a dirty trick on Ben Carson. During Tuesday’s interview on “Fox and Friends,” Carson said that his supporters have been told more than once by Cruz’s campaign that “voting for me was wasting their vote, and that they should reconsider.”

Yikes. Trying to convince voters to vote for him instead of the other guy. Nixonian.

It's especially rich for a guy like Trump to jump into it; a guy who manages to say things 180 degrees in opposition, sometimes in the same sentence.

[Old Lurker]

I don't think either Clinton ever pays retail for services other do.

Just sayin.

[Porchlight]

Rick,

Having spent minimal effort/time/money in Iowa, probably a record low for a frontrunner, Donald J. Trump received........the second largest vote total of any Republican candidate in Iowa caucus history. Second by a margin of 3.4% or 6000 votes.

This suggests that his support is not reliant on big GOTV operations. (Mitt Romney only dreamed of such.)

NH, unlike Iowa:

--Polls open all day to all voters including those not registered Republican
--Secret ballot
--Demographically much more favorable to Trump than to Cruz
--Has given Trump a double digit lead in the average of every single poll in the last 7 months, of which Cruz has topped exactly zero.
Most recent poll is Trump +24.

Insulting the stupid loser candidate and his stupid loser supporters is not working so far, so maybe folks should try something different.

[jimmyk on iPhone]

This was kind of interesting, especially for you map fans:

http://www.atlasvanlines.com/migration-patterns/

Seems that people are moving toward states with high concentrations of JOMers. I would only criticize their choice of red for "balanced" and beige for "outbound." Naturally a lot of beige in the blue hells.

[James D]

I agree with OL.

I'd assume that all his needs were fulfilled from the Clinton Foundation intern pool, and/or regular trips down to Pedo Island.

[Janet]

from an old article April 2007 -

ABC: And Brian, I presume there are others on this list who will turn heads?

ROSS: There are thousands of names, tens of thousands of phone numbers, and there are people there at the Pentagon, lobbyists, others at the White House, prominent lawyers — a long, long list, and as well, the women who work for the service, David, include university professors, legal secretaries, scientists, military officers.

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2007/04/28/12374/ross-white-house-madam/

But ABC news then decided (wiki again)..."ABC News, after going through what was described as "46 lb" [21 kg] of phone records, decided that none of the potential clients[13] was sufficiently "newsworthy" to bother mentioning.[14]"

You trust ABC news to decide what/who is newsworthy, don't you?

[jimmyk on iPhone]

"I don't think either Clinton ever pays retail for services other do."

You got that right, OL. He's got guys like Epstein to "arrange" for him. And the Clintons aren't known not paying for anything they can get as a gift.

[NK]

Actually-- greenberg sued Bernanke in DC Federal Ct of Claims. The finding of the Federal Ct of Claims Judge that the Fed and US Treasury Dept conspired to use AIG as a way to pay off other Banks is a YUGE under reported story IMO.

[Porchlight]

Ignatz, as I said, Trump has one main object here which is to ding Cruz support going into NH.

I know I sound like the wild-eyed people who say "he's playing 3D chess!" but it still seems quite obvious to me.

And I don't even really want him to win. I just think Rs are shooting themselves in the foot by carping all over him.

[DebinNC]

If Dr. Carson had been viable, Sen. Tim Scott-SC wouldn't have announced his support of Rubio on the day of the IA caucus and news reports about the coming announcement the day before.

[Rick Ballard]

Porchlight,

I'm with ABT, it's WWE rules and the loser is going to lose. PPP is coming out with another 'national' joke poll which they have already announced will take more air out of the gasbag.

It's just PWT!, nothing to get excited about.

[Jeff Dobbs]

jimmy:
Seems that people are moving toward states with high concentrations of JOMers.

Dagnabbit! Two of "my" states top the list.

States with the highest percentage of inbound moves:
Oregon (64%)
Idaho (63%)
North Carolina (61%)
Alaska (60%)
North Dakota (59%)

We Must Secure The Borders!!!!!!!!!!

[Beasts of England]

Some of the hookers were scientists? Is there a lab coat or beaker fetish that I'm missing out on?

[Porchlight]

Carson had no chance to win with or without the Cruz mailer, of course. But the Cruz people had been talking for awhile about how they hoped to pick off Carson voters, saying that Cruz would be a natural home for those voters should Carson drop out. That was the point of the mailer.

Carson's 10% showing suggested that there were more people ready to vote for him than most observers expected. If some of them jumped to Cruz in response to the mailer AND/OR the rumors of Carson dropping out that were bolstered by the mailer and Carson's announcement....it certainly could have made a difference.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Of course it's obvious what he's doing, Porch. But lack of subtlety doesn't shield one from a pot/kettle comparison.

[jimmyk on iPhone]

" The finding of the Federal Ct of Claims Judge that the Fed and US Treasury Dept conspired to use AIG as a way to pay off other Banks is a YUGE under reported story IMO."

Indeed. Whatever their excuses for the bailout, making creditors like GS whole was completely irresponsible. Of course we keep being told "But, but, the government turned a profit!" Well, first, I am skeptical, and second, even if true it might have been dumb luck, not a recipe for future policy disasters.

[lyle]

Dammit! I need to get one of those bumperstickers: Welcome To Idaho Now Leave.

[Porchlight]

It's just PWT!, nothing to get excited about.

Party with Trump!? I'm behind in my lexicon studies. ;)

[Jeff Dobbs]

What mailer, Porch?

I'm not aware of one that had anything to do specifically with Carson........

[Porchlight]

Sorry Jeff, Twitter not mailer. Arroyo was incorrectly talking about a mailer this morning on Ingraham and I was thinking to myself "it wasn't a mailer" and damned if I didn't pick up on his error.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Hmmmm, I should probably do a PWT p-shop...

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Third, I'm paying for the government to thwart foreign invaders and punish domestic criminals, not to turn a profit on a deal to make sure bank don't suffer a loss from stupid/dishonest investments they made.

[Jack is Back!]

David Brooks: Donald Trump isn't Real

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/02/opinion/donald-trump-isnt-real.html

But Marco is.

[Miss Marple]

All I have to say is that if TRUMP had done the very same thing Cruz did, the hysteria would be off the charts.

Candy Carson was AT a caucus and heard them telling people. Steve King was involved in this, as well.

To me, if you are going to complain about Obama cheating and doing end runs around Congress and ignoring the law, you had better be acting as ethically as possible, and so should your staff.

The Bridgegate people got fired. At least Christie held people accountable. (Not saying whether he knew or not.)

What I am seeing is a double standard here.

It's one thing to say to the caucus voters that "Dr. Carson is probably not going to win so would you consider changing your vote?" and quite another to say "He's dropping out tomorrow, so give us your vote so it isn't wasted."

[jimmyk on iPhone]

I noted that Alabama is one of the "inbound" states. I assume that's Beast's influence, all the nubile ladies converging there.

[Porchlight]

But lack of subtlety doesn't shield one from a pot/kettle comparison.

Correct. Pot/kettle is accurate.

Since politics is not beanbag, and I would like our nominee to not play beanbag with the Dems, I'm not that worked up about what Cruz did re: Carson, and I'm not worked up about what Trump is doing here either.

I'm just saying that people who take Trump's tweet today at face value are missing the point of it.

[Rick Ballard]

I think it was the one about using an illegal choke hold, Jeff. That or the "he using bear grease" allegation.

Pro WrestlingTonight!

[Old Lurker]

My partner in Wyoming claims they post snipers at the border to take out all cars with CA plates.

[Porchlight]

Argh, bad italics tag, sorry. Second line of that 11:02 is mine, not Iggy's.

[Porchlight]

Thanks, Rick. :)

It's all a work, you know.

[narciso]

is david brooks real, i've seen him on tv, but advances in holography are extraordinary,

[narciso]

is this really the issue,

http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/scott-whitlock/2016/02/02/seriously-brian-williams-proclaims-be-purveyor-truth-and-justice

[Beasts of England]

I'm doing my part, jimmyk!!

PWT - I really shouldn't laugh that hard, but I did...

[Sandy Daze]

40%

[Sandy Daze]

40%

[Jeff Dobbs]

Porch:
I'm just saying that people who take Trump's tweet today at face value are missing the point of it.

I think it's probably also worth point out that the outrage over the VOTER VIOLATION! mailer and the impression that the "New York values" line hurt Cruz are missing the point of them.

They work...

Cruz isn't just using Big Data...he's using YUGE Data.

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-02-02/how-ted-cruz-engineered-his-iowa-triumph

He may well have caught up to and passed the Obama/Dem efforts in this regard.

Where's rich? I bet he's looked into this.....

[narciso]

sorry wrong link,

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2582265

[NK]

From ChiTown, a link to today's musings from Bill Gross: http://image.exct.net/lib/ff021270746501/m/8/32632_TL-Bill_Gross_Investment_Outlook_Feb_2016_exp_02.28.17_1.pdf

[matt]

"Chauncey, you microaggressed me with that hit. It was unfair!"

Jim Brown was one of the greatest Lacrosse players ever. In fact the cradling rule was called the Jim Brown rule.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--All I have to say is that if TRUMP had done the very same thing Cruz did, the hysteria would be off the charts.--

For just one small example from many, Trump brought up the birther issue but said he himself thought Cruz was qualified without question, but he was just concerned for poor Teddy that someone else might make an issue of it.
By a few days later he was saying Cruz might not be eligible and he was entertaining suing over it himself.
While there was lots of talk about Cruz's eligibility, I don't recall hysteria off the charts or even much discussion of Trump's bait and switch "dirty trick".

--To me, if you are going to complain about Obama cheating and doing end runs around Congress and ignoring the law, you had better be acting as ethically as possible, and so should your staff.--

Well, Trump has complained about those things and I'm not sure I'd characterize his campaign as "acting as ethically as possible."

Can we stop pretending any of these guys, including Carson, are willing to abide by Marquis of Queensberry rules?

[NK]

Matt-- STILL, THE best ever.

[Porchlight]

Yep, Jeff, but for all Cruz's efforts (and the risks he took which are now blowing up at least a little bit)....he still only finished 6K votes ahead of Trump who barely lifted a finger in the state.

A great win for Cruz, but he'll have to massively enlarge on it to win NH.

It's going to be especially difficult since his unceasing evangelical pandering isn't likely to work in NH (although it might in SC).

[Porchlight]

Can we stop pretending any of these guys, including Carson, are willing to abide by Marquis of Queensberry rules?

Are we talking against Dems? Because I'm pretty sure a decent chunk of them would revert right back to those rules in the general.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Porch:
Yep, Jeff, but for all Cruz's efforts (and the risks he took which are now blowing up at least a little bit)....he still only finished 6K votes ahead of Trump who barely lifted a finger in the state.

But he overperformed relative to the polls - and against the backdrop of everyone saying he had been hurt badly by the mailer and the ny values line and the poor debate without Trump. Go back to the predictions made here - over half who did had him in 3rd - and Miss Marple had him in 4th.

That's the point - I can see him overperforming relative to traditional measures (polls, media, pundits, etc) because he has targeted people in a way that isn't measurable.

A great win for Cruz, but he'll have to massively enlarge on it to win NH.

You keep talking about Cruz vs Trump in NH. Cruz has never been a part of the conversation in NH. Trump has a yuge lead - and everyone else only ever talks about Kasich, Christie and Jeb . . . and now Rubio there.

There is not a person in the world who thinks Cruz could possibly win NH - for him finishing in the top 3 is the max he is looking for (which could still be difficult).