POTUS 2016

[neil999]

trump and clinton could care less about any of their policies btw, they both just want to be president

cant believe people are falling for trump being on the working class side, absolutely laughable

 

[SerenityNigh]

Carson won't drop out. He's the public face of a pyramid scheme (the basis of most Republican politics), and not an actual candidate. He'll quit when the money, and not the votes, stop coming in, and that's unlikely to happen soon.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/...-chief-at-the-center-of-campaign-storm-217575

many Republican candidates only really run so they can get paid to go on television and to do marketing for various predatory scams. this is partly why there were initially so many.
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/super-pac-scams-114581

Cruz will stay in if he wins Texas, and this will be good for Trump because it keeps the opposition divided.

Trump will almost certainly have to publicly appear in a courtroom in the next few months to answer a lawsuit relating to his pyramid scheme "university." this is his version of Hillary's looming email scandal. the Republicans will be desperate to usurp him before then, but there's not really anything they can do. the more they attack him, the more his voters sympathize. voters identify with him emotionally, and viscerally. his successes are experienced as their successes, and they take personal attacks against him personally. still, while his base consists of true believers, the notion of one of the duopoly's presidential candidates on the stand for fraud during an election will transcend even American standards of decorum for most voters.

like Carson, Trump is essentially a mascot-for-hire for scams. criminals pay him to brand their assorted schemes, because he signals prosperity to the dimmer and more vulgar of America's white petit-bourgeois. he doesn't actually produce anything, business-wise. he doesn't actually build or design anything that has his name on it - he's brought in at the final stages as a mercenary ruse that tempts fools to part with their money
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-...xico-condo-resort-lawsuit-20131127-story.html

there are many similar examples

he is not unusual in this regard, among his party
it is striking how much the Republican Party resembles a pyramid scheme. this started when they were in the wilderness in the 1960s, and far-right Reagan and John Birch and Goldwater people noticed how much money religious and conspiracy hucksters were able to extract from mailing lists. extremist politics became just another product added to the inventory
http://thebaffler.com/salvos/the-long-con

the Hillary v Trump question is interesting. conventional wisdom says she would almost certainly win, but Trump has defied this in every instance thus far, and she couldn't possibly be more "establishment" during a campaign when that could scarcely be more pejorative. in some ways Bernie is much more credible challenger to Trump, but this would alarm the Democrats' moneyed patrons, and Republicans will paint him as Che Guevara for trying to turn the US into a modern, developed country.

this will have some impact, because of Americans' peculiar understanding of how they stand relative to the rest of the world. if you go to China, a country that shares America's almost religious sense of self-importance, people are well aware of how far behind the rest of the world they are, and if the Party isn't seen to be making demonstrable progress in closing this gap, there is unrest.

Poor Americans are just as and in many ways even more miserable than their Chinese counterparts (they can't even take clean water for granted anymore, led alone basic health care, and their lives are getting worse, not better). but they nonetheless cling to the notion that they are blessed to live in The Greatest Country That God Has Ever Created. thus, there is no real political pressure to improve their lot, and indeed, their voting patterns only worsen their plight. their anger expresses itself uselessly, as Trump. American political order rests on the fact that the average walmart worker making 5.25$/hour to work 60 hours a week with no representation or even health care still thinks to themselves, with religious conviction, "at least I'm not a unionized German worker! That would be truly horrific!"

nothing is really going to change much politically until these sorts of attitudes change.

Please stay in this thread. I'm fascinated by how you combine erudition and conspiracy.

 

[SerenityNigh]

trump and clinton could care less about any of their policies btw, they both just want to be president

cant believe people are falling for trump being on the working class side, absolutely laughable

Trump's broad appeal is Hope, same color as me

 

[ElGato]

Frack me Americans are thick

 

[neil999]

oh well at least no-one on GOT has voted for cruz lol

 

[mezzrow]

Kasich sounds smart right now on NPR. He's your boy, right @mezzrow?

Nope. Check the poll. I'm voting for the guy with the best chance to stop Trump in Florida. It won't help, but I'll do it.

Did you know that Kasich's Dad was a mailman? Since my dad was a milkman, I guess that makes him less GOP business as usual (according to his overall unstated logic). What it tells me is that his Dad was another Government employee, as Kasich has been for most of his adult life, more or less. I've been looking at Kasich's mug for 20+ years now as the designated GOP spokesperson on something or another. He just thinks it's his turn, and he's always been trying to become president, just like the others. He doesn't bring especially good skills to the table, IMHO.

He's not the answer. I don't know if Rubio is either, but I think he has the best shot to beat Hillary. I was a Walker guy, but we don't apparently need competence, the guts of a burglar, and a focused plan coupled with all the excitement of a PBJ sammich wrapped in wax paper. It's too late for that though. Too many people just want to blow the whole thing up and start over.

We've got to be entertained here in the USA.

Woo.

All Walker has done is save Wisconsin taxpayers billions (yes, with a B) of dollars and get their fiscal house in order, while gutting the protection racket set up to blow tax/salary money into the coffers of the government employee unions in the state. I used to be in one of those unions, and I'll finish this by listing all the things those unions did for me below.

 

[mezzrow]

Please stay in this thread. I'm fascinated by how you combine erudition and conspiracy.

This.

 

[abelard]

Please stay in this thread. I'm fascinated by how you combine erudition and conspiracy.

ha ha

"wake up sheeple!!!"

- noted tin-foil hat wearers Politico, Rick Perlstein, and the Los Angeles Times

Have you read Jane Mayer? (or is she also one of the crazies?)

this stuff is common knowledge. i just like to amuse myself by being a bit flippant about it, since here at least i don't have to deal with copy editor. did you read any of the links? it's a conspiracy in the way that "the emperor has no clothes!" is a conspiracy

 

[mezzrow]

Trump's broad appeal is Hope, same color as me

Then why do I know hispanics and black people who are going to vote for Trump? These are not Republicans, until recently. They changed to vote for him. Seriously. You do not imagine the size of what is about to hit here.

Checking in with @TX Bill for a temperature check in Texas. Florida is gone for Trump if he wins Texas, for sure. Current GOPe fave hashtag is #nevertrump You folks may enjoy the Lileks screed below that reflects my Trumpian thoughts, as James writes with the skill of Messi dribbling between defenders, and I am more of a Stracq attack.

Co-worker today: your tie's too long.

I straightened up, and the tie's point ended where it should.

Oh. I thought you were wearing it like Trump. You see how he wears his ties?

It's to compensate for his stubby fingers and his Hitler [redacted].

I thought you'd be a Trump guy.

Me? He's a racist, a nativist, an economic nationalist, a threat to the First Amendment and our industry, and a liar who may or not be lying about all those things.

She seemed a bit surprised. Even though nothing I've said or done would twin me with Trump. Unless there's an article back in there in the archives where I wanted to "open up the files" and see who really did 9/11.

To repeat what I said yesterday, because that was the top of this entry:

You start out with someone you like, and this person either fails or wins. If they fail you move along to someone else who's acceptable, but wasn't your first choice because of some stances...

http://www.lileks.com/screed/030116.html

 

[tsubaki]

Nope. Check the poll. I'm voting for the guy with the best chance to stop Trump in Florida. It won't help, but I'll do it.

Did you know that Kasich's Dad was a mailman? Since my dad was a milkman, I guess that makes him less GOP business as usual (according to his overall unstated logic). What it tells me is that his Dad was another Government employee, as Kasich has been for most of his adult life, more or less. I've been looking at Kasich's mug for 20+ years now as the designated GOP spokesperson on something or another. He just thinks it's his turn, and he's always been trying to become president, just like the others. He doesn't bring especially good skills to the table, IMHO.

He's not the answer. I don't know if Rubio is either, but I think he has the best shot to beat Hillary. I was a Walker guy, but we don't apparently need competence, the guts of a burglar, and a focused plan coupled with all the excitement of a PBJ sammich wrapped in wax paper. It's too late for that though. Too many people just want to blow the whole thing up and start over.

We've got to be entertained here in the USA.

Woo.

All Walker has done is save Wisconsin taxpayers billions (yes, with a B) of dollars and get their fiscal house in order, while gutting the protection racket set up to blow tax/salary money into the coffers of the government employee unions in the state. I used to be in one of those unions, and I'll finish this by listing all the things those unions did for me below.

No offence, but the above post makes zero sense. For a start, criticizing his dad as just "another Government employee" when he was a postman is daft, its not as if he sat on a quango for an hour every other week and got paid hundreds of thousands. As for Kasich being on the payroll for much of his adult life - that is true, but that is also what Rubio has done (and what Walker did, for what its worth).

 

[abelard]

why, specifically, do the Republicans on here oppose Trump? What is it about your preferred alternatives that makes them different? I'm asking seriously.

 

[tsubaki]

trump and clinton could care less about any of their policies btw, they both just want to be president

cant believe people are falling for trump being on the working class side, absolutely laughable

TBH its no more laughable than when people believe Hilary about it either.

 

[SerenityNigh]

Then why do I know hispanics and black people who are going to vote for Trump? These are not Republicans, until recently. They changed to vote for him. Seriously. You do not imagine the size of what is about to hit here.

Checking in with @TX Bill for a temperature check in Texas. Florida is gone for Trump if he wins Texas, for sure. Current GOPe fave hashtag is #nevertrump You folks may enjoy the Lileks screed below that reflects my Trumpian thoughts, as James writes with the skill of Messi dribbling between defenders, and I am more of a Stracq attack.

Co-worker today: your tie's too long.

I straightened up, and the tie's point ended where it should.

Oh. I thought you were wearing it like Trump. You see how he wears his ties?

It's to compensate for his stubby fingers and his Hitler [redacted].

I thought you'd be a Trump guy.

Me? He's a racist, a nativist, an economic nationalist, a threat to the First Amendment and our industry, and a liar who may or not be lying about all those things.

She seemed a bit surprised. Even though nothing I've said or done would twin me with Trump. Unless there's an article back in there in the archives where I wanted to "open up the files" and see who really did 9/11.

To repeat what I said yesterday, because that was the top of this entry:

You start out with someone you like, and this person either fails or wins. If they fail you move along to someone else who's acceptable, but wasn't your first choice because of some stances...

http://www.lileks.com/screed/030116.html

Be surprised if Trump gets >20% of his support from non-whites

 

[mezzrow]

No offence, but the above post makes zero sense. For a start, criticizing his dad as just "another Government employee" when he was a postman is daft, its not as if he sat on a quango for an hour every other week and got paid hundreds of thousands. As for Kasich being on the payroll for much of his adult life - that is true, but that is also what Rubio has done (and what Walker did, for what its worth).

why, specifically, do the Republicans on here oppose Trump? What is it about your preferred alternatives that makes them different? I'm asking seriously.

I believe in natural law, enumerated powers, the establishment clause, separation of powers, and free enterprise. We've been losing our contact with all of these progressively for the past hundred years, approximately since the administration of Woodrow Wilson, America's most racist President.

The alternatives are flawed vessels for hope, but all are less flawed than Trump. The main point is that I see Trump as a classically toxic narcissist, a quality he shares with our current President. The fact that the nation turns to Trump after eight years of Barack Obama chips away a faith I have always carried in the overall wisdom of the American public. I feel that an electorate that is capable of electing Obama twice is capable of just about any damned thing. We hunger to share the rush of the power of the man on the horse who will lead us to glory.

Hope. Change. Make America Great Again.

I am genuinely worried about the future of my Republic, in short. Interesting times, indeed.

 

[mezzrow]

Be surprised if Trump gets >20% of his support from non-whites

15 - 20% will be plenty, thank you very much.