August 11, 2015

"I do whine because I want to win and I'm not happy about not winning and I am a whiner and I keep whining and whining until I win."

Said Donald Trump this morning.

Sorry for all the Trump stuff this morning. I'm trying to ignore the man, so could someone else in the world please be interesting? Or... no... that's a bad idea. Thank God for the boringness that allows Donald Trump to be the most interesting thing in the world.

110 comments:

Laslo Spatula said...

" Thank God for the boringness that allows Donald Trump to be the most interesting thing in the world."

Well, Cornel West was arrested.

Wait. That's boring, too.


I am Laslo.

Bay Area Guy said...

Ann is still dreaming about the Donald, it appears.

David Begley said...

Glad he recognizes it.

Who wants a whiner as leader of the free world?

Putin, please stop it. And you're a loser anyway.

Wince said...

Althouse has blood coming out her blog.

Matt Sablan said...

Eh, it works for a lot of people. People wouldn't whine if it didn't work. No Trump fan, but you can't argue with the success of the Politics of Whine.

pm317 said...

so could someone else in the world please be interesting

Like Obama was? How well did he do?

acm said...

Today I learned that my son at age four was showing the same reasoning as a front runner for the Republican nomination.

Stupid me, I disciplined that attitude right out of him.

traditionalguy said...

You need to find an uncut and pasted version of the entire Chris Cuomo/Trump discussion on CNN this morning. That will help with understanding the Trump appeal.

He is here to stay. Trump's arrival has caused a nationwide reaction like the loyal Boxer had when he was very finally reunited with his first family after eight long years captivity under Obamunism, and Israel hatred.

Matt Sablan said...

When I hear "loyal Boxer," I think Animal Farm.

Sprezzatura said...

Do cons do anything but whine about the media? Apparently y'all were for it, before you were against it.

And, unlike the rest of y'all, at least Trump claims that his whining has resulted in winning.

You folks are hilarious.

Sprezzatura said...

He's a winner whiner. Y'all are loser whiners!

Laslo Spatula said...

In Lena Dunham news:

what-would-make-someone-say-i-want-to-kill-lena-dunham .


I am Laslo.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Yesterday was quite the day for me. First, I heard the 1967 version of "All Along the Watchtower" for the first time. It's stuck in my head right now as I type this comment. Kind of nifty, if you're into the exhorting prophet, unflagging rhythm thing, which I am.

Second, I finally got around to seeing Walkabout (1971). Great looking film and a beautifully elemental story. Kind of unsettling in spots. It sort of put me on edge worrying when Dr. Skinner was going to give me the next electric shock. I thought that it was distractingly prurient, but maybe that's my problem.

Third, there really is no third thing that comes readily to mind, except maybe that the machinery ran smoothly, in general, and that nothing terrible happened, so it's all good.

rhhardin said...

Trump is a disrupter of the media conventions.

It would be nice if the media had to find another way to make money, one that doesn't ruin the country.

Scott said...

Donald Trump, Slobodan Milošević, Radovan Karadžić: Big hair, big mouths.

Which one shares an alma mater with Barack Obama?

richard mcenroe said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
richard mcenroe said...

I'm an escapee from California. I've never met a loyal Boxer, just Babs.

Scott said...

Big Hair II: Donald Trump and Richard Trumka. And maybe common ancestry?

Big Mike said...

Sorry for all the Trump stuff this morning.

I rather doubt it.

I'm trying to ignore the man,

Not very successfully.

so could someone else in the world please be interesting?

Well there's that French family who thought a 7.4 km hike through the desert could be done with only 40 ounces of water between three people. But you blogged that already.

Or... no... that's a bad idea. Thank God for the boringness that allows Donald Trump to be the most interesting thing in the world.

The rest of the world is anything but boring. Over in France and England there's trouble keeping illegal immigrants from crossing from France, where they're not welcome, to England, where they're even less so.

The EPA is moving in its typical ponderous way to contain the horrendous spill they caused. You blogged about that yesterday, but the EPA's foot-dragging response is yet another example of this administration's ineptitude. Here's a quote from the Denver Post:


"EPA chiefs flew in Friday and acknowledged an inappropriate initial response Wednesday in which they downplayed the severity and failed to anticipate the downstream impacts."

That's downstream impacts like, for instance, arsenic, lead, and cadmium in the drinking water. Are you familiar with cadmium poisoning? Perhaps one of the inorganic chemists in the Chemistry Department could enlighten you (Judy Burstyn would be a good person to start with). Minute amounts are toxic, and cause irreversible kidney damage as well as osteoporosis and anosmia.

So far not a single female cabinet appointee in this administration has been up to her job. Not a one. Well, I take that back. Penny Pritzker hasn't had any major failures the way Kathleen Sebelius, Marilyn Tavenner (Obamacare portal rollout), Janet Napolitano (downplaying the threat from Muslim extremists and failure to secure the border with Mexico), Katherine Archuleta (OPM data breach), Hilda Solis (caught tampering with unemployment statistics), now Gina McCarthy at EPA, and, lest we forget, the execrable performance of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. I'll qualify that -- Pritzker hasn't had a major failure yet.

Ferguson has blown up again. Police killed another black man merely because he was shooting at them. If #BlackLivesMatter actually cared about Black lives they might start by teaching young Black men not to shoot at police officers. Or anybody else for that matter.

The waters around Rio de Janeiro are so loaded with bacteria that rowers in an international test event became ill after competing. Or is that anti-Hispanic? No, can't be anti-Hispanic because Brazilians aren't of Hispanic descent; they're of Portuguese descent. (The way I can split hairs, I shuddabeen a lawyer! Or is this splitting heirs.)

Michael Phelps is rounding into shape to win more gold medals next year. He could compete individually in the 100 and 200 butterfly and all three relays. Provided he avoids the DUIs that got him tossed from the US swim team at last week's world championships, that is.

Rhonda Rousey and Katie Ledecky have been in the news. Ledecky's stamina, winning all three distance races plus the "middle distance" 200 is beyond belief. Moreover she had only a short period of rest between winning the 1500 meter (in world record time, of course) and swimming the semi-finals of the shorter, faster, 200 meters.

And not even Laslo would want to meet Rhonda Rousey in a dark alley.

Kelley Osbourne's stupid remark about Latinas cleaning toilets has rebounded to get Rosie Perez kicked off "The View." Them Latinas need to know their place, which ABC seems to think ought to be cleaning toilets for white folks.

No, ma'am, the world beyond Donald Trump is far from boring.

madAsHell said...

First, I heard the 1967 version of "All Along the Watchtower" for the first time.

Dylan or Hendrix??
Are there other versions?
You grew up outside the Anglo-sphere?

Fernandinande said...

madAsHell said...

"All Along the Watchtower"
Are there other versions?


Lots. I have 2 Hendrix, 2 Neil Young, 1 each Alvin Lee, Dave Mason and U2. (No Dylan).

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Meade said...

If 1967, then Dylan.

grackle said...

The ‘whine’ verbiage is just Trump throwing their own words back to them. When he gets shit thrown at him he throws shit right back. Us Trump supporters love it when he does that.

What happens I wonder if Trump wins the GOP nomination? Will the other candidates support him? Will the RNC? Whither party loyalty then?

If he does and they don’t then that would pretty much mean that Trump is perfectly justified to keep a possible third party run open now, wouldn’t it? I mean what’s good for the tit is good for the tat, no?

Trump detractors should revisit Uncle Remus and contemplate deeply the Br’er Rabbit/tar baby episode.

Conventional canards will not bring him down. Ad hominem just seems to make him stronger. They are going to have to engage with him in a fair way, as judged by his supporters, and risk the possibility of being out-gunned on their own shooting range or his poll numbers will just keep going up.

But since I do not believe they are capable of fair play, it’s just not in their DNA, it looks to me as though Trump has them by the short hairs. Having a hard time wiping this smile off my face.

narciso said...

honey badger shows he is just as muddled as your typical Gotham resident


http://therightscoop.com/donald-trump-goes-rounds-with-cnn-host-for-over-30-minutes/

Nonapod said...

I'm so bored with Trump. I never understood his appeal before his presidential run, and the only thing interesting about him now isn't actually about him at all, it's about what his success indicates about the mindset of a large portion of people. The whole thing is just depressing and dull.

Amy said...

Seems obvious to me Trump is a bully. This has worked somewhat well in the business world - in politics, especially the international realm, not so much.
He has said things that have struck a nerve with the American people (at least some of them). "Raised awareness" as it were.
But to have this whole bombastic, name-calling, narcissistic approach in the White House - it would truly be worse than what we have now - and that is saying something!

Mick said...

Of course you are trying to ignore him "law prof" (a misnomer). He upsets your desire for "civility" (bowing to the propagandists and lowlife politicians, and letting them run roughshod over we the people with no push back) from the Ivory Tower as you look down on we the people and collect your undeserved succor from the state. Have you ever had a real job, and plead a case before a real jury? Just wondering (those who can't do, teach).

JD said...

The fact that Trump continues to poll high among Republicans reflects the extreme disfunctionality of the Party and the base.

grackle said...

I'm trying to ignore the man …

Why ignore the man that has made this political season the most interesting, informative and fun thing that has happened in politics in a long time?

Interesting: Can one individual candidate overcome all the obstacles thrown his way by the MSM?

Informative: We have learned that individuals are vulnerable to the MSM hatchets only if they accept the idiotic, smug assumptions of the MSM.

Fun: The extreme disquiet, puzzlement and even horror exhibited by the faces and voices of the progressive pundits.

Thorley Winston said...

The fact that Trump continues to poll high among Republicans reflects the extreme disfunctionality of the Party and the base.

Or a problem with the polls and how they’re being reported. Anyone can self-identify as a “Republican” to a pollster especially if the only criteria is whether you plan to vote in the Republican presidential primary (which I imagine a lot of independents and Democrats are since there really isn’t a race on the Democratic side).

Meade said...

Succor this, Mick.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Kind of pathetic that you think Trump is interesting.

sunsong said...

Trump is a wonderful symbol of republican chauvinism: negative ego, bullying, bombast, money as status, winning at all cost, lack of integrity etc etc
The longer he is in, the more the republican party will be identified with him :-)

Brill said...

There is a Dos Equis commercial in which The Most Interesting Man in the World and his friends prank a man by knocking on his hotel room door then running away. When the man comes out I say look it's The Donald in a fez and hilarity ensues.

Dan Hossley said...

He whines because he wants to win? That's his pathway to the Presidency? Another idiotic non sequitur from the Donald.

mccullough said...

Is succor a noun? I think you mean sinecure. And Steel Wheels is a terrible album

robother said...

Megyn and The Donald: a match made in ratings heaven! This is more like professional wrestling every day, with future grudge matches being set up for even more hype. The trick now will be to keep Trump alive through the preliminaries.
If The Donald somehow captures the Republican nomination (or better yet for the Real Establishment, goes Ross Perot), the Fox Presidential Debate will have the highest ratings of any non-Superbowl program.
Meanwhile, of course, no one will pay any attention to the Real Question: who is the Vince McMahon manipulating all this behind the scenes? Rupert Murdoch? Bill Clinton? The Big Programmer in the Sky?

furious_a said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
furious_a said...


"Whining" is anger coming out through a very small hole.

Sydney said...

Boring?! These are not boring times. Not at all. Many terrible things happening in the world and in our country that are being ignored while the media broadcast Trump shenanigans and wonder if he referenced some talking heads menstrual periods. What is happening here, folks, is misdirection.
Ignore The Donald. Focus on the things that matter, people! Like the stuff Big Mike detailed. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

furious_a said...

I don't know, Ukraine, Syria and Yemen are having "interesting" times. Maybe "boring" isn't so bad.

traditionalguy said...

Trump is a realist that is willing to adopt whatever strategy it takes to win. Trump is not all that bombastic.

Now Curtis LeMay who was also a realist that adopted whatever strategy it took to win was really Bombastic.

CarlF said...

He whines until he goes bankrupt. Then repeats the cycle.

Sammy Finkelman said...

I just read today that Curtis Lemay (in a letter to the Wall Street Journal) was against dropping the bomb on Hiroshima - on closer look, the quote doesn't actually say that.

After the bomb was dropped (something he had nothng to do with) he claimed that the war would have been over in two weeks, without the Russians entering and without the atomic bomb, and that the atomic bomb had nothing to do with the end of the war at all (apparently he was crediting all the other bombs like the fire raids on Tokyo.

Birches said...

Big Mike will save us all. Thank you.

cubanbob said...

Nonapod said...
I'm so bored with Trump. I never understood his appeal before his presidential run, and the only thing interesting about him now isn't actually about him at all, it's about what his success indicates about the mindset of a large portion of people. The whole thing is just depressing and dull.

8/11/15, 9:58 AM

Take your statement and change to Obama in place of Trump and nothing would be lost in meaning.

cubanbob said...

JD said...
The fact that Trump continues to poll high among Republicans reflects the extreme disfunctionality of the Party and the base.

8/11/15, 10:11 AM"

Same can be said for Sanders and the Democrats.

cubanbob said...

sunsong said...
Trump is a wonderful symbol of republican chauvinism: negative ego, bullying, bombast, money as status, winning at all cost, lack of integrity etc etc
The longer he is in, the more the republican party will be identified with him :-)

8/11/15, 10:22 AM

Now there you go again talking about the Clintons and the Democrats.

Birches said...

Ok, here's where I finally rant on this whole Trump phenomenon. People say they like him because he tells it like it is; he's a great talker. But beyond that? What has the man done to be President? There are people running for President who have actually done things, very conservative things while in office. Regardless of how well they "tell it like it is," I'm confident their track record shows their actions will be good for our Country. Donald Trump? Well, someone else spent about 8 years talking up a good game by leftist standards. And by those same standards, he's been an absolute failure. I don't need the Republican version of Barack Obama, thankyouverymuch.

Nonapod said...

cubanbob said...

Take your statement and change to Obama in place of Trump and nothing would be lost in meaning.

8/11/15, 11:26 AM

Not gonna argue that. Listing to one of Obama's speeches is almost physically painful for me, like a tension headache. If someone told me I had to choose between listening to one of Obama's speeches for 15 minutes or driving a pushpin into my palm, I would choose the pushpin.

My name goes here. said...

Trump is succeeding because of three things right now.

He is fighting back. Not since Reagan has a presidental hopeful stood up to the press and the detractors and punched back.

He has promised to be the jobs president, and to actually enforce immigration law. And people actually believe that he will do his best on those two issues. Further, they get how those two issues GO TOGETHER.

Now is not the time to be conciliatory. You can be a bombast now. Think Howard Dean.

IMHO, at some point Trump will need to find some inner civility. He will need to be a "My opponent has some good points, but his solution is wrong, and let me tell you why..." I am not sure he has that in him.

Ann Althouse said...

Look down on us the people...

List-a-Beefy said...

We wrote a book, maybe it can relieve boredom for a few hours: http://www.amazon.com/Madison-Food-American-Nichole-Fromm/dp/162619615X

Gusty Winds said...

I'm trying to ignore the man

Hillary couldn't ignore the man. Took her opportunistic shot at backing Megyn Kelly. What a joke, and what a lack of substance.

She can't answer anything tough, but you can just see her scripts writing themselves.

Lazy. Unoriginal. Uninspired. Cliché.

Oh..and acting like Trump isn't even worth the consideration of the University / Media / Political elite will just keep him around longer.

I don't get it Professor. Bill Clinton lowered the bar. And Hillary was a part of it all. She was never pissed and intern went down on him. She didn't want the responsibility of doing so. She was just pissed he got caught.

Trump is somehow beneath the bar?

Original Mike said...

"Now is not the time to be conciliatory. You can be a bombast now. Think Howard Dean."

Yeah, I remember President Dean.

Anonymous said...

Blogger Birches said...
Ok, here's where I finally rant on this whole Trump phenomenon. People say they like him because he tells it like it is; he's a great talker. But beyond that? What has the man done to be President? There are people running for President who have actually done things, very conservative things while in office. Regardless of how well they "tell it like it is," I'm confident their track record shows their actions will be good for our Country. Donald Trump? Well, someone else spent about 8 years talking up a good game by leftist standards. And by those same standards, he's been an absolute failure. I don't need the Republican version of Barack Obama, thankyouverymuch.


I keep hearing people who don't like Donald Trump keep saying that people who do like Donald Trump like him because he tells it like it is.

I wonder why they keep saying that. I like Donald Trump and I haven't written those words, "He tells it like it is."

Actually, I don't think he tells it like it is. He doesn't seem like the type to me who is a "Truth teller" or however you want to phrase it.

He fights. That's why we like him. Which isn't the same as telling it like it is. Call me a whiner, will you? Ok, fine, I'm a whiner, what are you going to do about it?

I'm pissed off and I'm experiencing shadenfreude at all the SJW's out there who are losing their head over Donald Trump.

Yesterday on Facebook a friend of mine wrote a criticism of Trump. One of his friends wrote a few comments. I wrote that I like Donald Trump because he's giving the SJW's headaches and I'm enjoying that. My friends friend responded that the SJW's don't care about Trump (This guy is himself an SJW) and that they are just sitting back and eating popcorn.

I didn't respond. But an hour later he wrote another comment that looked like this:

Donald Trump says women are on the rag, supports respond, "TRUTHTELLER!!!! TRUTHTELLER!!!!!"

In effect, he just gave me the perfect example of why Trump makes me so happy. No one who is sitting back and eating popcorn uses all caps and a zillion exclamation points. He's making their heads explode, and I love it.

Sebastian said...

"He is fighting back. Not since Reagan has a presidental hopeful stood up to the press and the detractors and punched back."

Except Reagan did it civilly and in a way that broadened his appeal so he could win a majority. Trump does it by rudely and buffoonishly alienating big chunks of voters he would need if he were serious. Of course, by the time he ran Reagan was a seasoned professional with two stints as CA gov behind him.

"He has promised to be the jobs president, and to actually enforce immigration law."

He has "promised to be jobs president"--now there's a plan for you. He will "actually enforce immigration law," will he. Except of course that he has already announced he's willing to "work something out" for actual illegals.

Anyone who gives any credence to Trumpian "promises" deserves Hillary!, good and hard.

Anonymous said...

Blogger sunsong said...
Trump is a wonderful symbol of republican chauvinism: negative ego, bullying, bombast, money as status, winning at all cost, lack of integrity etc etc
The longer he is in, the more the republican party will be identified with him :-)


Prediction: Whoever ends up being the Republican candidate for President, Sunsong and her SJW ilk will say, at some point, "This person is worse than Trump."

Bank on it.

Birches said...

He is fighting back. Not since Reagan has a presidential hopeful stood up to the press and the detractors and punched back.

Not true. Newt Gingrich was of the same mold last round. I was equally bewildered with his support. Whether you say "truth teller" or "fights back," the result is the same.

He's making their heads explode, and I love it.

As I said, a Republican version of Barack Obama. What a waste.

Anonymous said...

Blogger grackle said...
The ‘whine’ verbiage is just Trump throwing their own words back to them. When he gets shit thrown at him he throws shit right back. Us Trump supporters love it when he does that.


This is obvious. It's Trump saying, "Call me a whiner will you? Fine, I'm a whiner, what are you going to do about it?"

His distractors are amazing adroit at parsing his language to mean something he himself has said he doesn't mean (Wherever means a woman's period). But when it comes to such an obvious tactic, they are oblivious.

One might think bias is causing the disconnect.

traditionalguy said...

Leadership rule:

Come in like Mr mean guy, and you can be Mr nice guy later and not lose the respect you need to lead.

But come in as Mr nice guy and no one will ever respects you even if you try to be Mr mean guy later, and then the whole thing fails.

Anonymous said...

Blogger Birches said...

As I said, a Republican version of Barack Obama. What a waste.


Oh, did you say that? And here I thought I've heard that all over the internet and you were just repeating it.

And yes, he's exactly like Obama. Obama was a successful billionaire before running for President. Obama raised 5 children, three of which have families and successful businesses of their own and are actually very smart children. Obama is promising to build a wall on the border. Obama is talking about dealing tough with Iran and what a horrible Secretary of State Clinton was.

Oh, I get it, you're saying Obama is an asshole, and Trump is an asshole, and therefore we shouldn't like him. That'll change my mind about him.

jacksonjay said...

Cheryl Mills told the Judge to fuck-off! That's kinda interesting!

Quaestor said...

Trump is a wonderful symbol of republican chauvinism

Sunsong dates herself with that antique usage. Pushing the big eight-oh, are we, sunshine? Ever look back and wonder why your mind stopped developing at seventeen?

JD said...

I predict that another Republican Party post national election "autopsy" will be in order. I'm puzzled by Republicans that see anything Presidential in Trump. Maybe it's a symptom of the base losing it's mind.

jacksonjay said...


I am not a my best when I am "pissed-off"!

damikesc said...

I predict that another Republican Party post national election "autopsy" will be in order. I'm puzzled by Republicans that see anything Presidential in Trump. Maybe it's a symptom of the base losing it's mind.

Or a symptom, as with the Dem base, that the voters aren't represented by the establishment.

The GOP has spent years shitting on their voters. Forgive the voters if they don't keep asking for more.

Bob Ellison said...

Anything that keeps you blogging.

JD said...

"The GOP has spent years shitting on their voters. Forgive the voters if they don't keep asking for more."

Who will forgive the voters who helped Clinton win this election? I detect some sort of death wish among the base.

jacksonjay said...


The GOP has spent years shitting on their voters. Forgive the voters if they don't keep asking for more.

Well apparently not enough Republican voters feel the way you do. I hear you, BUT they keep electing Boehner and Mitch and McCain and Lindsay and so on. That Utah Mormon is the worst! How does Utah re-elect him over and over again? How does South Carolina continue to send Lindsay Graham back to Washington? You didn't really think that Mitch was gonna rein in Barry after the November election, did you? Not enough Republican voters thought it was important to fire Obama in 2012. It really is just that simple. MOST Republican voters want what we've got now!

sunsong said...

This is fun :-) According to Gallup, July '15, 23% of Americans identify as republicans. Say Trump gets 24% of their support - that a whopping 5.5% of the people. Suffolk poll in IA has Trump at 17% - which is about 3.2% of the people. By all means stick with the bully chauvinist, let him define the party - I'm loving it - lol

a party in turmoil

Anonymous said...

Blogger sunsong said...
This is fun :-) According to Gallup, July '15, 23% of Americans identify as republicans. Say Trump gets 24% of their support - that a whopping 5.5% of the people. Suffolk poll in IA has Trump at 17% - which is about 3.2% of the people. By all means stick with the bully chauvinist, let him define the party - I'm loving it - lol


As am I. Who would have thought I'd ever agree on anything sunsong wrote?

Mark this day on your calendars, I think sunsong will be eating those words.

Nonapod said...

Look... I get it... contrarianism has a powerful pull. There's something undeniably satisfying about saying "Fuck You!" to the pointy know-it-all establishment powermongers. And there's no denying that the GOP have been a HUGE disappointment. They took both houses back in 2014 and ever since they've done precious little but roll over for Obama for the most part. And look at their presumed favorite: Jeb Bush!?. Really? It's just infuriating.

The more people complain about Trump, the more popular he becomes... among a certain set. Over the years there have been many political figures have tapped into that appeal, like Sarah Palin and Ross Perot. I seriously doubt Trump can build his support much beyond the mad-as-hell contrarian crowd, but I've been wrong about a lot of stuff in the past.

I don't know... maybe this time it will be different. Maybe he'll continue to defy expectations and win over all sorts of new demographics. Seems unlikely, but whatever.

damikesc said...

Who will forgive the voters who helped Clinton win this election? I detect some sort of death wish among the base.

In case you missed it, the Dems are rallying around a candidate who isn't a member of the Party, either. And, God knows, Sanders is generating more of a buzz than Hillary ever has.

How does South Carolina continue to send Lindsay Graham back to Washington?

The Dems are really terrible here and the GOP isn't big on challenging incumbents here. Remember, Graham is in Thurmond's old seat. Turnover isn't big here, for whatever reason.

damikesc said...

Thing is, Trump doesn't have to be the world's best candidate.

He just has to be better than the Dem option, which is Clinton or Sanders.

Neither of them are terribly good candidates, either.

Pragmatist said...

Maybe that is his role, to make everyone else seem nonthreatening and boring by comparison.

Brando said...

I'm half disgusted and half in awe at what the Clintons hatched with their friend Trump. But I'll bet even they never imagined a sizable portion of the right wing would rally around a "fighter" who is proud to "whine" to victory, who makes war on Megyn Kelly of all people, and even defended single payer healthcare at the last debate. Well played, you evil geniuses. Never underestimate the GOPs ability to hobble itself. And I'm sure the Trumpites will still find a way to blame all this on the "establishment" which their connected billionaire is clearly not a part of.

I wonder who Hillary will put on the Supreme Court?

averagejoe said...

Trump-mania! From the blogger who said "Don't pay attention to him!

hombre said...

Trump runs, the Democrat wins.

He knows that.
The Dems know that.
The Repubs know that.
The media know that.

Everybody knows that but the Trumpadupes.

Paul said...

I get a chuckle out of the dumb as a fencepost crowd who still imagine Hillary Clinton will be the nominee let alone president.

grackle said...

Kind of pathetic that you think Trump is interesting.

Insults. Pathetic is the ad hominem thrown at anyone who defends Trump. Don’t they have anything more? Where’s the debate? Where’s the reasoned stance?

The whole thing is just depressing and dull.

Yet here the commentor is, weighing in with enthusiasm against Trump. Why do it if it is “depressing and dull?”

But why worry at all? Everyone says that Trump won’t last. That he’ll never win the nomination. All that needs to be done if they really believe he has no chance is to sit along the sidelines and cheer as he implodes.

Readers, what happens to Trump depends on Trump supporters. Not the flailing MSM. Not the GOP establishment. And definitely not an anonymous commentor spewing invective. But Trump opponents should keep on insulting us because that has worked well so far, right?

It is very, very simple, readers. There’s a significant bunch of voters that are fed up with the political establishment on both sides. But we have never been offered a real alternative … until now, with Trump. Any others have been cut out so early in the ‘process’ that they haven’t surfaced.

So along comes Trump. Who cannot be quashed early because he doesn’t depend on donor money, doesn’t depend on establishment permission and plays the MSM like
Heifetz with a Stradivarius.

Kirk Parker said...

pm317,

Seriously, in what universe was Obama ever interesting? Except as a case study, maybe.


Nonapod,

" Listing to one of Obama's speeches is almost physically painful for me"

So... stop doing that!

Brando,

Kelly is a miserable, despicable person. What's not to like in waging war against her?


Oh, and EDH wins the thread way back in the 4th comment.

traditionalguy said...

"Bombs Away LeMay" was a lout and a flexible operational tactician like The Donald.

If you want to see what Trump would do with our strategic problem solving as President, then study what LeMay did when faced with serious losing strategic situations.

In late 1944 the newly discovered Jet Stream winds over Japan had made our 4 billion dollar investment in a fleet of many gunned B-29s designed for daylight flights bombing over Japan from 30,000 feet actually impossible. It was a big joke to the Japanese as we were losing many planes with no targets being damaged.

Lemay was sent for to fix the problem. He figured it out and ordered all of defensive guns taken out of the B-29s to save weight and sent them on night time raids of 1000 planes in successive waves that mass carpet bombed cities from altitudes of 500 to 1,000 feet using the new incendiary bomblets made from napalm.

It worked. And our only losses were a few planes brought down by updrafts from the fires that were killing 120,000 and leaving a third of Tokyo ashes.

Then after WWII when Stalin closed the land lines into Berlin in the summer of 1948 during our election season, Truman ordered the Air Force to try to try to supply the City by Air until he could come up with an answer short of nuclear War, but that supply was deemed by the experts to be impossible especially as soon as winter arrived and coal transport was needed. So Truman ordered the stubborn LeMay to find a fix to it.

LeMay assembled a huge (Trump like)fleet of the new 4 engine C-54 transports from American bases all over the globe and quickly built two new airports in Berlin. He simply did the impossible, Stalin gave up next spring after Truman's reelection, and Berlin lived as a free city.

That is what a Bombastic leader does for you.

Anonymous said...

Trump says he's the "Most fabulous whiner" but I suspect he hasn't read Brando or Sebastian.

Mick said...

Meade said...
Succor this, Mick.


Wow, witty! I guess the truth hurts.
"Law prof", supposedly a "Con Law Prof", voted for the Usurper Hussein Obama, born British, and likely still British, TWICE. That says a lot about her competence as a "Con Law Prof".

HoodlumDoodlum said...

"You're likable enough, Donald."

furious_a said...

That is what a Bombastic leader does for you,

Ha, good one. During the Cuban Missile Crisis Lemay argued for an invasion of Cuba, even after the Soviets had withdrawn their missiles.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Honestly Trump whiffed on a couple of easy zingers in that debate. He should have said back to Kelly something like "do you honestly think your fellow members of the Media and Hillary Clinton's campaign won't accuse the Republican nominee of fighting a war on women if that nominee isn't me? Sure, I've said some crude things and I might be more vulnerable to that than others, but look at a straight shooting, polite, humble guy like Mitt Romney. Poor ol' Mitt thought leading a good life, being respectful, and demonstrating humility and politeness throughout his long service to the people of his state would protect him from phony charges of being anti-woman. Did it? If not, why the hell should we worry about what the Media and the Clinton campaign (but I repeat myself) will say? They're going to make up ridiculous crap, call us names, and make us out to be anti-woman no matter what. I think the American people would prefer a candidate who's not afraid to speak his mind and won't shy away from telling the truth, even when the truth isn't polite. I'm not anti-woman, Megyn, and I'm not afraid of you folks in the Media calling me anit-woman. I think most of the other guys on this stage are afraid, and I think that's a good reason to vote for me instead."

Paco Wové said...

The Nihilistic Populism of Donald Trump

"Trump offers average Americans the chance to pull the Establishment’s chain, and then watch the wonks and the pundits jerk and squeal. This is a lot of fun for the tens of millions of people out there who think the whole political class consists of high-minded incompetents and unprincipled parasites."

Nichevo said...

He sounds a lot like you here, Althouse, except for his honesty. Maybe that's why you can't get him out of your mind. The call came from inside the house!

I do not there no Trump will win. If he is not a saboteur, the other contenders may be able to learn and grow with benefit of his sacrifice. Racing improves the breed. If you're scared of Trump what does that say about you? If I was scared of Trump I'd have him assassinated. What I wondered is, does Bush get Trump in a room and induce Trump to throw Bush his support? And how? Substitute names as you please.

dreams said...

"I get a chuckle out of the dumb as a fencepost crowd who still imagine Hillary Clinton will be the nominee let alone president."

The first thing Hillary will do as president is issue herself a pardon for the email and other crimes she has committed.

gerry said...

Walter Russell Mead (h/t to Instapundit)

Birches said...

Here's your fighter: Trump Would Consider Funding Good Parts of Planned Parenthood

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"I get a chuckle out of the dumb as a fence post crowd who still imagine Hillary Clinton will be the nominee let alone president."

You're not allowing for the dumb as a fence post electorate. Hillary is a shoo-in.

Anonymous said...

Birches, I'll see your headline and I'll raise you a direct quote:

“The problem that I have with Planned Parenthood is the abortion situation. It is like an abortion factory, frankly,” Trump said. “And you can’t have it. And you just shouldn’t be funding it. That should not be funded by the government, and I feel strongly about that.”

Writ Small said...

In the 2012 cycle, first Romney led. Then Perry led, then Romney. Then Cain led, then Romney. Then Gingrich led, then Romney, then Gingrich again and then Romney again. Next, Santorum led, and finally it was Romney (who lost to Obama. Yeah. Don't remind me).

Each non-Romney held the lead for four to seven weeks. In nearly all cases during the time that they led, their support looked like a dome. They each gained ground for the first several weeks of their lead, plateaued, and steadily lost it over the second half. During those front runner weeks, each seemed to have a real chance to win, but each was found wanting under the pressure and scrutiny of being in first. Republican voters cast them aside like so many speed dates. Only Gingrich earned a second serious look.

Trump has held his national lead for about three weeks so far. While he retains his lead, the most recent aggregate polling data show his support has plateaued and is now trending down.

Henry said...

Trump is both vile and boring. He's not even interesting at being a cretin.

Write Small wrote:

Trump has held his national lead for about three weeks so far. While he retains his lead, the most recent aggregate polling data show his support has plateaued and is now trending down.

Here's Nate Silver:

...the problem isn’t just that the national polls at this stage in the race lack empirical power to predict the nomination; it’s also that they describe a fiction. I don’t mean to suggest that Donald Trump’s support in the polls is “fake.” I have no doubt that some people really love him or that he’d be the favorite if you held a national, winner-take-all Republican primary tomorrow. However, the “election” these polls describe is hypothetical in at least five ways:

* They contemplate a vote today, but we’re currently 174 days from the Iowa caucuses.
* They contemplate a national primary, but states vote one at a time or in small groups.
* They contemplate a race with 17 candidates, but several candidates will drop out before Iowa and several more will drop out before the other states vote.
* They contemplate a winner-take-all vote, but most states are not winner-take-all.
* They contemplate a vote among all Republican-leaning registered voters or adults, but in fact only a small fraction of them will turn out for primaries and caucuses.

This is why it’s exasperating that the mainstream media has become obsessed with how Trump is performing in these polls.


https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/630474951984812032

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

"Sorry for all the Trump stuff this morning. I'm trying to ignore the man…"

Narcissist feels out-publicized by a fellow narcissist.

No wonder the topic exhausts itself.

grackle said...

Full disclosure:

I’m a Trump supporter but I like other candidates too. Here’s my choices as of now:

Fiorina, Cruz, Trump and Walker

I think Trump was treated unfairly from the start. It’s fun defending him. Fun watching him confound his critics and scornfully dismiss the pundits. His next hurdle is the primaries. It could all end there.

Rubio reminds me of a high school senior playing an adult in a school play. I don’t think he can beat the eventual Democrat nominee.

Please, no more Bushes.

Christi hugged Obama. A liberal Republican Governor of a northeastern state cannot beat the eventual Democrat nominee.

Carson: I read somewhere on a blog that it was sad to see a great man out of his element. Keep in mind that I have a special affection for brain surgeons. But no, he cannot win a general election.

Lindsey Graham: Cannot win the general election. Secretary of Defense?

Mike Huckabee - a bit too social conservative for the general.

Rick Perry looks like an amalgam of male Mad Men characters. Sorry Rick, but that debate flub last time out ain’t going away, it was a diamond for the progs and diamonds are forever.

Jindal: I find him strange looking. It’s Ok to look like a minority but it has to be a look that is not strange. Voters don’t go for strange in a general. Winning statewide elections is way different than a national run, as Perry is finding out. And he talks way too fast.

Kasich: The next best thing to an Obama-hugger like Christi? An Obamacare-hugger like Kasich. I’ve been trying to put my finger on why I do not like him. It’s not the welcome he gave Obamacare – I can easily forgive him for that. He seems addicted to circuitous blather, at least what I’ve seen of him. That must be it. Popularity in a home state doesn’t automatically translate to nationwide success.

Rand Paul: We saw during the debate exchange with Christi that just below the surface there’s stewpot of hysteria.

The rest of the field isn’t worth mentioning. At least not now.

All this said, at this time I would gladly vote for any of the above over the eventual Democrat nominee.

averagejoe said...

Here's something interesting: The FBI just seized Hillary2016!'s private server and thumb drive. I know it's not as important as Donald Trump, The Most Interesting Man In Althouse's World, saying #WarOnWomen stuff, but still, kind of interesting...

Phil 314 said...

Trump is trolling the election.

Don't feed the trolls.

Known Unknown said...

"Rand Paul: We saw during the debate exchange with Christi that just below the surface there’s stewpot of hysteria. "

Paul is the only candidate anywhere who will fight for individual liberty.

walter said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
walter said...

PB&J,

"Apparently y'all were for it, before you were against it." What the hell do you mean by that? Or are you just throwing shit against the wall to see if it sticks/stinks?


"And, unlike the rest of y'all, at least Trump claims that his whining has resulted in winning."

You are half right there. What he's doing is disarming the premise by running with it instead of being defensive.

It's the difference between running away ducking bullets and taking the gun out of the aggressor's hand and turning it on them.

Like Trump or hate him, I think these so called journalists are repeatedly proving themselves to be unarmed.

grackle said...

I see comments asserting boredom on the subject of Trump. To each their own. Me, I think that the Trump phenomenon is a situation unique in the history of politics and as such deserves a lot of attention. It is fascinating to me to observe a total outsider disrupt the business-as-usual, boring campaign crap. For me the ‘how’ and especially the ‘why’ of it are well worth pursuing.

Paul is the only candidate anywhere who will fight for individual liberty.

Never put all your eggs in one basket. And emotional stability is I think desirable in a POTUS. Paul looked shrill and over emotional to me.

Let me say that I think that these interviews which are wrongfully called ‘debate’ have only one truly utilitarian purpose.

Not to reveal the candidates’ policies. All that, what there is of it, are or soon will be posted on their website for all to peruse and analyze at our leisure. Besides, with only a couple of exceptions(abortion, immigration) policy lists are window dressing, nothing more. The best laid plans, especially foreign policy plans, get thrown out the window as soon as a new POTUS is faced with reality. At best they are only guidelines for what the candidates wish to do.

Not any real debate between the candidates which is only allowed in one or two too-brief interchanges by the interviewing ‘moderators’ per ‘debate.’

No, the true purpose to me is to see how each candidate reacts to confrontation(by the moderators) and applied pressure(by the moderators).

Observations on my picks:

Fiorina: I love this woman, want to marry her and leave everything to her in my will. I want, no, I NEED to see her in the oval office calmly cutting off Putin’s water and setting the mullahs straight on her intentions. Having a mere woman opposing them from the strongest office in the world should make their turbaned heads explode. I want her level head to be picking cabinets, Justices and directing foreign policy.

Cruz: He made a campaign pledge in Texas to oppose Obamacare any way he could and he kept that promise, even at some cost to his standing in the Senate. That is fairly rare in politics. He refused to jump on the dump Trump bandwagon. It was thought that he had no chance to win the senate race in Texas but he is a very smart person and won over overwhelming odds. He would murder Hillary or any other Democrat in a real debate; he’s a prize-winning debater. I’m hoping he will know how to pick a truly conservative SCOTUS nominee that won’t be a changeling as soon as they are sworn in. Think Roberts.

Trump: the only truly unique phenomenon in political history that I can recall. Their has never been a candidate like him. The MSM are going to try to ignore him now in hopes that he will fade away from lack of media exposure. Does the Trump phenomenon have legs? The upcoming primaries will tell us. I like his brashness, his sureness and his unalloyed, unapologetic belief in the greatness of America. America has been making bad deals for awhile. Maybe a person who is a veteran of literally hundreds of deals, who co-authored a book on deals, can do better for us.

Walker: He didn’t come off too well in the recent ‘debate.’ But there is a sincerity, almost a humbleness about his delivery that I think could wear well in a long campaign. And he has a record of accomplishments second to none. I do not know exactly why but I trust him to do what’s right as POTUS. My gut says he’s OK.

grackle said...

Trump runs, the Democrat wins.

He knows that.
The Dems know that.
The Repubs know that.
The media know that.


I do not know that. I think it may be true IF Trump runs as a third party candidate but even THAT is not a sure thing. Perot’s third party campaign garnered 19% of the popular vote even after he dropped out and re-entered the race. Obviously a third party candidate has to win more than 33% of the electoral college against the two other parties but I do not think that possibility is beyond the pale.

As for Trump winning the GOP nomination, if he does I believe he will be a strong candidate with a good chance to win. The Democrat field is weak and I think we are all realizing that Hillary’s days are numbered. My son, a computer security expert who works for a Fortune 500 energy corporation, assures me that short of Hillary destroying the hard drive with a sledgehammer there is no way the FBI forensic experts will NOT be able to retrieve everything that has transpired on her private server.

So enter Warren, enter Biden, enter whoever – all of which I think would lose against Trump.

walter said...

"So enter Warren, enter Biden, enter whoever.."

Clearly you don't "Feel the Bern". ;)

grackle said...

Clearly you don't "Feel the Bern". ;)

I think Bernie is popular and generating enthusiasm now among the left side of the spectrum partly because Hillary cannot do so. However, I do not believe he can generate enough universal appeal to win the general election against the eventual GOP nominee. Webb, O’Malley and Lincoln “Metric” Chafee are not serious competition to Bernie … yet.

Once Hillary tearfully pulls out of the race for the ‘good of the party’ the field is open. If I were Warren or Biden I would jump into the race and see what happens.

While I’m at it I think in a Trump vs a Sanders or a Warren presidential race that Trump could actually attract some crossover votes. There’s bound to still be a few moderate Democrats who do not want to be part of a totally socialist America.

Also, I believe Trump could capture a significant portion of the Latino vote. He fares better than the rest of the GOP field among the Latinos, even better than Cruz. While it’s true that the Democrats generally do much better with Latinos than GOP candidates, the Latino culture is essentially conservative in it’s core values just waiting for the right candidate to tap into that culturally conservative vein. If Trump wins the nomination I think the pundits could again be puzzled at his strength among certain demographics.

walter said...

I get you ..mostly..
But If Hil pulls out, given the head start and substantial support shown the Bern, I don't think he falls under the label "whoever"...especially when looking at his competition.
General election? It's no secret that promising free stuff and push-back against "the rich" has become quite popular.