Wednesday AM

Away we go.

Comments

[DrJ]

Insomnia!

[peter]

good morning. cruz loses Missouri by a hair, Trump gains 15 delegates

[henry]

Now Trump and Hilligula pics side by side on the front page of the WSJ through November. Where are those diving boards?

[anonamom]

Got to sleep in today!

My "Trump acceptance" has holes in it--I'm sleeping soundly, but I am sad about the guy who lied to us about his immigration stand losing to him.

I understand feelings aren't rational.

[Captain Hate]

It's time for that proselytizing goof, Kasich, to stop acting like Sally Fields and get back to the job which he still has two years to complete. Nobody with a functioning cortex thinks this barely sentient fartcloud has a prayer of being President yet like a bad case of athletes foot he refuses to go away. I started out being somewhat negativity bemused about this clown's candidacy but now actively hate what this glory hound has revealed of himself.

[anonamom]

For theo.
Scott Adams says the smart people know what Trump is doing:

http://blog.dilbert.com/post/141090636816/donald-trump-con-man

Trump’s solution, so far, is to influence the dumb people via emotion while winking to the smart people so we know he is smart and not crazy. The wink is what tells you he probably isn’t Hitler. The wink says he is doing what he needs to do to get elected.

I saw the wink sooner than most of you because I study persuasion. So none of his crazy behavior looked crazy to me. It looked skillful to the extreme. So skillful, in fact, that he got to the point where he can literally say any damned thing and his supporters don’t care how true it is. They care that he is on their side and doing whatever it takes to tear down the money-puppets in Washington.

[anonamom]

CH, did you find Janet's post from yesterday?
IIRC, she's still at her mother's, who is not much longer for this world, but all is good. Other family there as well.

[henry]

We are at the "dogs and cats living together" phase of this campaign, but no Egon to save us.

[hrtshpdbox]

anonamom, that sounds like an untrustworthy fellow you're describing. Maybe there's even another wink that we're not catching or comprehending.

[anonamom]

Nope.
His goal is to sell his book on persuasion, so the more accurately he
explains Trump, the more likely we are to buy his book.

We know how we came to have a community organizer get elected as president (as well as many other Dems) by stupid people based on emotions, but we won't acknowledge that we need them too?

As Insty says--read the whole thing.

[_peter]

maybe he can hypnotize us into thinking the economy is good and we're safe.

[Gentlejim]

Peter,
You mean like 404 with the dumbocrats?

Captain,
Love your Kasich post.

[Maybe it's Rubio? I hear he's available.]

Obama supreme court nominee coming today.

[Buckeye]

Who will be more likely to respond to a call to action?

Trumpsters or Hilligulaites

[Threadkiller]

RejecTed.

[Captain Hate]

anonamom, thanks for pointing that out about Janet.

[Momto2]

Good morning! Here's hoping the R's don't go wobbly on the Supreme Court nominee, regardless of who it may be. A bit strange that there are no leaks of the name isn't it? Maybe he's still "deciding"....

[Marlene Barresi]

Janet,if you are lurking,we're thinking of you.

[Miss Marple 2]

Good morning!

Momto2, I am convinced that the choice was made on the basis of "This will get those no-good Republicans" rather than any thought of legal expertise.

[James D]

That's a good bet, MM. That seems to be the basis of most of Zero's decisions.

[Momto2]

I agree MM & JamesD - typical of his little pouty immature actions in the past!

[Moe Howard]

"good morning. cruz loses Missouri by a hair, Trump gains 15 delegates"

Actually, Trump gains either 37 or 42 out of 52 delegates from MO depending on if he won 5 or 6 out of their 8 districts. MO is 5 delegates won for each of the 8 districts won plus 12 for winning the state.

[henry]

WSJ editorial pumping a Kasich/Rubio ticket as the "winner" -- that makes Trump vs Hillary look good.

[Threadkiller]

http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2016/03/15/megyn-kelly-to-interview-celebs-for-primetime-special-on-fox-broadcasting/

[Theo]

ananamom --

I would suggest that any good con man works to make people feel that they are IN on the con. If he is a con man, eventually he will con everyone.

But even if you are right and he is just playing the rubes for suckers and really does not believe what he is saying, how is that a good reason to vote for him? How do you know what he will actually do? I mean when Obama (and Hillary) said they were against gay marriage, we knew and their supporters knew that they were lying. But they knew that when the time was right they would "evolve" on the issue. What is Trump going to do once he no longer needs to con the dumb voters? No clue here.

The other problem is that so far he has been good at running his con on dumb voters and some people to angry to care that he was a con man. Smart and principled conservatives have never liked him. He has very high unfavorable ratings -- 61% in a recent poll, 50% very unfavorable. Is he going to be able to con the entire electorate? I fear not.

So we end up with Rodham. What a disaster. The party needs to unite behind Cruz (or even Kasich) like before lunchtime TODAY and stop this madness.

[Theo]

henry --

I like Rubio. On that online test some of us took the other day, he was my candidate.

But what on earth would be the rationale to give the nomination to a guy who got 27% of the primary vote in his home state and has not won anyplace else except one caucus in Minnesota?

I can understand the WSJ freaking out about Trump; I am too. But a Rubio/Kasich ticket is not going to sell.

[henry]

Theo, the WSJ put Kasich on the top of the ticket. Insanity either way, they have everything except voters.

[Momto2]

Smart and principled conservatives have never liked him.

Well - I'm so glad to read that I am neither smart or not principled - you do realize you have just insulted several of us here - right?

[Momto2]

typed "nor principled"

[Miss Marple 2]

Good morning, Theo.

I assume that you think I am stupid and unprincipled. Nice to know.

[anonamom]

theo, as you've been told a multitude of times here already, going with the unknown unknown is preferable to going with the known complete and total corrupt, self-serving, lying disaster or the socialist. Though it appears the socialist is out of contention.

We'll all see how this goes. I don't support him, like most here, just seek to understand what is going on.

Three possible outcomes:
1. Trump is the nominee
2. Cruz is the nominee

If neither one or two, then
3. the GOP is dead

That's my reality, and I'm sticking to it.
(Yes, I stole that from somewhere--maybe an Insty commenter. But I strongly agree)

IVR--if I vote.
Not sure I will, which I never in a million years thought I'd ever say.
(But once I became a parent, I learned to never say never.)

[Captain Hate]

Levin was on fire last night, particularly about the Senate RINO herd demanding that Cruz apologize to McTurtle, making it clear that erstwhile vertebrates like Hatch and Cornyn have been sobbing their eyes out at these mean attacks on poor Mitch instead of taking the slightest exception to 404 trashing their Constitutional responsibilities. He also pointed out that the Byzantine patchwork of differing state ways to get delegates was designed to make Tea Party challenges as difficult as possible.

[danoso]

Ditto, anonamom. Well stated.

[Jane on Ipad]

happy Birthday MarkO! And to your grandson too! ( I was born the same day as my grandfather too!)

[Miss Marple 2]

Captain Hate,

Caught a bit of Levin in the car last night.

The advantage to Trump in this is that he simply bulldozes through, unlike lesser, and in some cases, more worthy candidates who do not have the advantage of celebrity, personal wealth, and a very small organization which can react quickly.

I said before, and I will repeat, the GOP should have looked at Trump as a gift, met with him, and attempted to get him on board with some GOP positions he might be shaky on.

The vehemence of their opposition leads me to believe that his rise was the one thing they hadn't counted on. There are lots of people in DC who thought they had this all figured out, and they were completely wrong. The root cause of this is ignoring their voters, something they thought they could continue to get away with.

They were sent warning signs (Eric Cantor, for example). When they conspired to re-elect Thad Cochran by using race scares to get black votes for Cochran in the run-off, that was a message to us that the peasants were going to be ignored.

I have no sympathy for them.

[henry]

Happy Birthday Marko! whiskey for you (and beer for your horse), plus age appropriate beverage for your grandson!

[Porchlight]

Happy birthday MarkO, and to your grandson, too! How fun.

[DebinNC]

HB, Marco!

The article above re Rubio's strange disappearance from the field last summer and other anomalies really gave me pause. I think we dodged a bullet with him.

[DebinNC]

Oops, sorry about that, MarkO. I had Rubio on the brain.

[Theo]

henry --

Oh, the WSJ put KASICH at the top of the ticket? Oh that makes a lot of sense. A guy who has gotten 13% of the vote so far and has won one state -- his own -- and that by not an overwhelming margin. Yeah, there's the people's choice.

[BlueOx]

Obama will name his SCOTUS nominee in a couple of hours.

That nominee will be confirmed. Either the Republicans will abandon their promise to not hold hearings, or the new Democrat senate majority will confirm in the first two weeks of January.

All while we're left shouting "GOPe!" and "RINO!" at each other.

[Porchlight]

That Scott Adams post that anonamom linked is brilliant. But you have to read the whole thing to get the full brilliance.

[Centralcal on iPad]

I am pretty much feeling the same as anonamom.

Happy birthday MarkO and grandson!

[Theo]

MM --

I meant no personal offense to you.

I do think that you have a good point that some elements of the GOPe have treated some of the voters like "peasants" and the Trump phenomenon is in part a reaction to that. I can see being upset with the party for being more talk than action on a lot of issues while still having the energy to cut crony deals with the Democrats.

What I still do not get is why anyone would think that Donald Trump is the answer to that problem. He is not a conservative. He is not much of a Republican. He can't win the general election and if by some miracle he did he would not have any bonds of party loyalty.

I understand your feelings about the party. I just do not get this as a solution.

[Captain Hate]

The root cause of this is ignoring their voters, something they thought they could continue to get away with.

There have been a lot of pundits who have squandered their credibility by not constantly hectoring the party on this. Kristol is the biggest disappointment for me; I know a lot of people here were more negative on him than I but I thought he was a lot smarter than what he's shown.

[Porchlight]

Kristol is a partisan more than a conservative these days.

[Miss Marple 2]

Philip Rucker ‏@PhilipRucker 3m3 minutes ago Washington, DC

Philip Rucker Retweeted Manu Raju

Boehner says if there's a contested convention, nominee should be Paul Ryan.

[Centralcal on iPad]

Asked by a reporter on cable this morning who he was speaking with regarding foreign policy, Trump replied: "I'm speaking with myself, No. 1, because I have a very good brain."

[DebinNC]

Trump Derangement Syndrome is a real thing imo. I'm pleased we're down to Trump, Cruz, and Kasich, but still pine for Walker.

[boris]

"some elements of the GOPe have treated some of the voters like ..."

Is the GOPe doing everything possible to elect Ted Cruz instead of Trump?

No they are not.

Their problem isn't with Trump per se, their problem is with anyone who isn't part of the GOPe/dimorat ruling oligarchy.

Trump is an upstart and Ted is their enemy.

[henry]

from our lurking friend Hillary thinks SC got 2nd Amendment wrong.

----
me: and you think Trump is a danger?

[Miss Marple 2]

Captain Hate,

For a good chunk of 1999, Bill Kristol was pushing Colin Powell as the only possible presidential candidate who could win for the GOP. When Powell refused to run, he switched to McCain.

He is a poor judge of candidates and is prone to stirring up trouble with his magazine, just to demonstrate his "intellectual superiority."

I am not a bit surprised. He's been on Twitter suggesting a 3rd party, as has Jennifer Rubin. People with common sense know a 3rd party would be a disaster, but they are SO convinced that they are the only smart ones that there is no shutting them up.

[BlueOx]

Trump Derangement Syndrome is a real thing imo

Amongst his supporters or his detractors?

Both?

[henry]

"intellectual superiority" = generic position of Acela cocktail party crowd. The Kristols and Rubins of the world are just as much posers as Trump.

[DebinNC]

A little of both, but mostly those who see a Trump win as a time to join hands and jump to their deaths off the Okinawa cliffs of WWII.

[Porchlight]

I actually love that reply, Centralcal. He rejects the questioner's implied premise that he's stupid and therefore needs help on FP (and everything else). But he qualifies it slightly with "primarily" thus leaving room for FP advisors, which he really does have, one of which is John Bolton.

[Captain Hate]

Supporting Powell somehow escaped my gaze at the time but in retrospect illustrates horrible judgement of somebody supposedly with insight. Don't get me wrong; nobody is infallible and you have to be judged in total, but right now he's not looking so good.

[Porchlight]

Sorry, "No. 1" not "primarily." I was out late.

[henry]

current rumor is Sri Srinivasan for SC. That will secure the H1B vote for Hillary.

[Theo]

Kristol was also the biggest cheerleader for Palin back in 2008.

[Threadkiller]

Before McCain picked her?

[GUS]

Who gives a flying (redact) what the WSJ thinks.
The American people have made it KRISTOL clear.
GOPe, you've ignored us, we've warned you.

YOU'RE FIRED. You're power is gone. We don't trust you. You did this to yourselves.

[Centralcal on iPad]

If you say so, Porch, but it did nothing to calm my fears of a President Mr. Trump.

[henry]

Now trending...Merrick Garland as SC nominee.

[Don't know much about Geography.]

Sri was point guard to Danny Manning in high school.

[Does know much about Geography.]

Joltin' John Bolton for Secretary of State.

[Miss Marple 2]

Myself, I am thinking that Trump has learned one thing from Bush.

"Misunderestimated."

Common sense should tell people that a guy who has survived and prospered in the world of New York real estate, hotels and resorts, is not a simpleton.

The chattering class puts all their emphasis on words, never looking at results.

I do not think Trump is stupid at all.

[GUS]

Merrick Bork. Obama can pound sand.

[Philiscus, tear down that wall.]

As I said of Admiral Titley, Colin Powell serves as if constantly recollecting that moral idiocy is a duty.

[GUS]

We've already seen VIOLENCE at his events.

Chris Stirewalt on FOX. There it is. Trump is violent. Get used to it. I believe the GOPe will allow Rodham to win rather than lose power.

[James D]

I can see being upset with the party for being more talk than action on a lot of issues while still having the energy to cut crony deals with the Democrats.

What I still do not get is why anyone would think that Donald Trump is the answer to that problem.

Because, however much of a con man (or whatever else you want to call him) he is, he has not spent the last quarter century lying to the voters and squandering every conceivable benefit of the doubt, the way that the GOP leadership and the pundits have.

It really is that simple. In the eyes of many Trump supporters, Washington has failed utterly. The GOP ahs failed utterly. The MSM has failed utterly. Trump is their answer BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE IS.

The GOP gave them no one else to turn to. It gave them no voice, no consideration, no ANYTHING.

"Yeah, OK, I've been lying to you for 20 years, and talking about what a loser you are behind your back, and I haven't done squat for you in all that time. But you have to trust me this time, because that Trump guy is much worse than I am."

That is not a winning argument.

[Threadkiller]

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2016/03/16/trump-i-wont-do-fnc-debate-on-march-21-due-to-aipac-speech-i-think-weve-had-enough-debates/

[James D]

He can't win the general election and if by some miracle he did he would not have any bonds of party loyalty.

Every time you say this (well, every time GOP leaders and pundits and experts and geniuses say it, anyway), it makes it more likely that he won't win the general.

Do you not get that?

If he is the likely nominee, and if you don't want Hillary because she'd be an even worse disaster than Trump in your nightmares would be, then wouldn't it be more helpful to stop crapping on him (and his supporters) and try to (1) improve his odds to win in the general and (2) steer him in a better direction so your nightmares won't come to pass?

[anonamom]

Theo, if you read Scot Adams for an hour or so, you'll stop saying Trump can't win.

[jimmyk on iPhone]

NYT says Garland is the SC nominee.

[Threadkiller]

Obama to Nominate D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick Garland to Supreme Court http://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-LB-53349

[henry]

McTurtle: all RINOs to their cave positions! This is not a drill! all RINOs to their cave positions!

[GUS]

JAMES, the GOPe, did everything it could to DESTROY the entire TEA PARTY movement.
They did so for fear of power sharing or losing power.
They failed. Too bad so sad.

[GUS]

for 6 years, the HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES sent bills to HARRY REID. The first 2 years, the bills got rammed thru. We know why. For 4 years, Reid tabled ALL bills from the HOUSE.

Harry Reid is no longer in control. Unless McConnell turns "turtle", Harry Reid can shove it.

[anonamom]

Interesting caller to DRShow analysis hour.

He voted for Trump yesterday even though he doesn't support him, because the caller wants the Rs to fracture into two parties.

He thinks the country would be served best by three parties, with one being a new "real" Republican party advocating for fiscal conservatism.

[jimmyk on iPhone]

Had to watch CNN at the dentist's office this morning (kind of felt like Alex in Clickeork Orange). Harridan Carol Costello was interviewing an RNC official (didn't catch the name, a youngish blond guy) who was actually pretty good. She kept concern trolling, first about Trump not being able to win the general, and about a brokered convention leading to a Paul Ryan nomination, about violence if Trump doesn't get the nomination, etc., and he kind of chuckled and said "I really appreciate your concerns...," defended Trump, said he's confident the nominee will be one of the three left, and that Rs will take the White House in November.

[maryrose]

I want a recount of Missouri
Bernie leads all night and then they give it to Hiligula
I blame Rubio for repub totals That guy was toast last week but had to have his "Last Hurrah moment

[maryrose]

Henry
Comment of the day winner!

[jimmyk on iPhone]

Clockwork Orange, thanks automistake

[maryrose]

Capt
I did laugh at your description of Kasich

[Buckeye]

The GOPe has spent the last decade feeding conservatives and moderates shit sammiches.

They thought we had developed a taste for their shit when they tried to shove JEB! down our throat.

Seems as though the voters have decided that they are perfectly capable of picking which flavor of shit sammich they prefer.

Trump, as it turns out, is this year's top flavor.

[jimmyk on iPhone]

maryrose, the last precincts to come in were mostly from St Louis where HRC had a big edge. I was going to post last night that it looked like she could overtake The Bern, but I'd already made a fool of myself enough that I kept quiet. That doesn't mean there weren't some "irregularities," but it was predictable.

[narciso]

Of course they stole mizzou, this is how they roll.

[boris]

James D writes ...

"Yeah, OK, I've been lying to you for 20 years, and talking about what a loser you are behind your back, and I haven't done squat for you in all that time. But you have to trust me this time, because that Trump guy is much worse than I am."

That is not a winning argument.

Excellent point.

Paraphrasing ...

Every time pundits and experts say "He can't win the general election" they make it more likely that he won't win the general.

Do they not get that?

It's intentional. They will use the "abandon Trump or else Hillary !!!" argument on others but it doesn't work on them. We are the people who abhor Hillary and fear what she will do, not them.

Of course there probably are some fools who believe the claptrap but when it's really down to Hillary or Trump we shall see if they switch to their only hope or if they'd rather jump to their deaths off the Okinawa cliffs.

[narciso]

Yes Kristol was fired from Carlos slims in part for defending the huntress@Roger kimball, of course will, kraut, all turned their noses up at her, smart and conscientous indeed.

[glasater]

♥

¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ Happy Birthday, Dear MarkO ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸

[Captain Hate]

Mission accomplished, maryrose.