I’ve been hearing rumors that Halperin was taking Donald Trump’s candidacy seriously. After fortifying myself with a few stiff drinks, I decided to stop by “The Page” and see for myself. It was worse than I thought. (The pictures below are from a screenshot of “The Page” this afternoon.)
I know we all hate Mark Halperin. But let this sink in for a minute. The New Yorker did a piece a few years ago on Halperin where all kinds of insiders gushed about what a genius the brother was. Here’s Paul Begala, for example:
“Halperin is the best. No. 1, he lives, sleeps, eats, and breathes it. No. 2, he’s smarter than the average bear. He can sense where a political story or line of argument is going, and he can remember details from a campaign that took place decades ago.”
The best, the number one political reporter in the country thinks Donald Trump has a chance to win the Republican nomination. This is like hearing that Billy Beane fell for the Sidd Finch hoax.
eric
Where’s Rosie O’Donnell when we need her?
JPL
So a person who declares bankruptcy because he lost money on a cas.ino is gonna save us all. How’s those family values working for you repubs?
Tonybrown74
That Paul Begala is a pro! No gag reflex at all!
Redshift
Has anyone ever seen Donald Trump’s birth certificate? I mean the real one, not, er, a copy or anything.
Since so many of us have doubts, I think it’s necessary for Trump to prove he’s from this planet.
arguingwithsignposts
Can I just say that Halperin can go fuck himself? Or would that be uncivil of me YET AGAIN!
JPL
My comment is in moderation so I am copying and pasting with one change to see if it passes.
So a person who declares bankruptcy because he lost money on a cas.ino is gonna save us all. How’s those family values working for you repubs?
JPL
Guess you can’t say cas.ino Who would have thought!
PurpleGirl
@JPL: He’s declared bankruptcy several times. I remember one time Citibank was asked why they were still loaning him money and the answer was something along the lines of “they knew he was good for it in the future and if they didn’t keep loaning him they’d lose the past loans” or something to that effect. And those family values…. yeah right, a couple of wives, serial player… yeah, real moral.
Tonybrown74
9u11iani 2.0
Citizen Alan
I don’t think it’s impossible he could get the GOP nomination. In terms of name recognition, he’s at the top. In terms of relative sanity, he’s somewhere in the 75% percentile. He can probably self-fund. Who’s going to take it from him? The flip-flopping Mormon? The crazy Alaskan? The crazy Minnesotan?
Honestly, my biggest question about Trump is whether he really believes all that birfer crap or whether The Apprentice is slipping in the crazy old hillbilly demographic. (Or possibly, he’s just trying to transition out of The Apprentice, which is getting a bit long in the tooth. Exercising his First Amendment rights to spout crazy talk at Teabagger rallies might be enough to get NBC to buy out his contract.)
jrg
Trump has made too much of a name for himself. Everyone knows he’s rich, so the mooks that make up the GOP base won’t vote for him.
If he were a governor with a fake rural accent, a nationally lesser known son of an ex-president, and heir to a fortune, the mooks could be made to believe he came from a trailer park… Like they were with Dubya. Then Trump would be at the bottom of a writhing, greasy pile of hillbilly love.
In other words, there’s no way Trump will win the Republican primaries unless he gets a TV show skinning alligators and shooting shotguns at abandoned household appliances.
Lolis
Trump also said on Fox and Friends that we should shoot terrorists without a trial just like Saddam Hussein did. I kid not. He fits right in with the current GOP.
But then again, is this all marketing for his reality show? The teabaggers seem like they watch a lot of primetime TV.
arguingwithsignposts
Cats can’t keep me out of this.
4tehlulz
On the bright side, Trump is so familiar with bankruptcy that he would guide the country through it the best.
JPL
Trumps new line is everyone knows him cuz he went to the best schools and was the smartest ever and who knows this Obama person. hahaha
So now folks will vote for a bankrupt egotist. Where’s Leona Helmsley? She could run for president and appoint her dog as vice president.
Mark S.
That’s pretty gross.
/13 year old
S. cerevisiae
Lewis Black DESTROYED Trump the other night. Anyone who can go broke running A FUCKING CASINO will not be taken seriously by the average Joe.
hilts
Mark Halperin’s greatest hits
h/t http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15885.html
h/t http://gawker.com/#!356128/asshole-says-loser-calls-barack-obama-a-pussy
S. cerevisiae
Moderation? OK I used the F word, sorry.
JPL
@arguingwithsignposts: Didn’t you have a really bad episode last year about this time?
arguingwithsignposts
@JPL: it was two years ago, but yes. although the exact timing i can’t get right.
gex
@Citizen Alan: As a MN resident, I have to ask this (sadly). Which crazy Minnesotan do you mean?
Suffern ACE
I’ve been hearing about this trump guy running for national office since 1984, when the (very very) young Suffern ACE was subjected to oratories on the Don’s greatness by a dufus of a lab partner in chemistry class. I hope he finally runs just so that I can get out of this 30 year rut that I’ve been in since the 9th grade.
Suffern ACE
@Suffern ACE: Also, I hope Sarah, Proud and Tall gets here soon to give us the inside scoop, since I’m sure she knows him.
gex
@arguingwithsignposts: Let me know if I can help. Depression sucks almost as much as the GOPTP.
gex
I’m kind of wondering, how come the Tea Party just got to run as Republicans? Are they a party? Are they not? Shouldn’t they have to put in a lot of work to get on ballots? Or is it the usual IOKIYAR?
Anya
Donald Trump claims to be very rich, yet he can’t afford a good make-up artist to blend his make-up, tan, or whatever uneven crap is in his face. And don’t get me started on what’s on his head.
JPL
@arguingwithsignposts: I have a dear friend that always had quirks but the last few years she has had several breaks with reality. Depending on what is going on with her it can occur several times during the year, but always happens around spring time when things are coming into bloom. For her it is not necessarily a dark period but rather one of paranoia. They moved out of state several years back and during one episode she kept cutting the phone wires. After having ATT out several times, her husband finally brought her up here because he didn’t know what to do.
I’m pretty blunt and my response was WTF are you thinking. She needs help.
If you really start getting down, the advice is the same for you. Some things you just can’t handle and they have doctors for that.
Comrade DougJ
@arguingwithsignposts:
Spring can really hang you up the most. It’s true.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@arguingwithsignposts: I hear you. And I feel for you. And the worst part is that the medical condition is just so poorly understood by regular people. It is chronic, and can be fatal. But, unlike for people with heart disease, diabetes, or addiction — all of which can be aggravated by lifestyle choices — people try to talk you the fuck out of it.If only. Or tell you to “buck up, buttercup; look on the bright side” or remind you that you could have cancer. I had cancer; it was fixable. Long way of saying I feel for you, and wish you well.
And as noted, above, April is the worst month for many folks – just heard a doc last week at a CLE suggest it may be the change of light. October is the second worst, he said. So it feels equinoctalish.
cat48
I’m kinda addicted to the Page b/c there & Politico is where the Villagers on Cable all decide what to talk about that day. Then I know whether I need to medicate myself b4 turning on the TV.
I don’t know if he actually does his own blogging, but I can tell what “Halperin’s Take” is just by the picture of Obama he chooses to use. If it’s the one w/the Gray suit or a head shot he uses constantly with that “Colgate smile”, the Take will be good! Otherwise, it’s likely bad. He’s only correct about 50% of the time though.
The Dangerman
Trump = Pat Paulson. Cheap publicity stunt (all that birther shit would tend to prove it).
dr. bloor
@4tehlulz:
But as POTUS, which government would he be relying on to bail his ass out this time around?
Southern Beale
For those who missed Lewis Black on The Daily Show last night, I think he pretty much killed Donald Trump’s presidential ambitions.
JPL
@arguingwithsignposts: One more thing beside my long rant… We are here..Also, Too…
serge
Damn…I haven’t thought about Plimpton’s “Sidd Finch” hoax in ages. That brought me back…
That said, Halperin is like a large turd swirling in a punch bowl. Just sayin’
arguingwithsignposts
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): thanks, bella, and dj and jpl and gex. it does suck, because there is no sympathy for this condition. does that make sense? it’s not like i’m angling for it. i didn’t wish for it. and i don’t want it at all. but it’s there. and it doesn’t go away. and i don’t know how i’ll go to work tomorrow. dammit!
Omnes Omnibus
@Anya:
I am not an expert in this by any means, but I think it is the unfortunate result of crossbreeding gone wrong, possible the unholy result of a liaison between a musk ox and an opossum with mange.
Redshift
@S. cerevisiae: That wasn’t it, it was cas.ino”
Keith G
Halprin’s quest is to generate clicks. That being the case, Trump is the current horse to flog. After all, right now how many would click on a story about Tim Pawlenty?
suzanne
Well, unless I’m mistaken, average bears roll in their own feces. Being smarter than a creature that does THAT isn’t really anything of which to be proud.
hilts
@The Dangerman:
Pat Paulson was a hell of a lot funnier than Trump.
Nerull
@JPL: He has also cited the financial crises as an ‘act of god’, therefore exempting him from paying back loans. Real fiscal responsibility, there.
Zifnab
@Citizen Alan:
Who is going to rally his voters? He’s got no infrastructure unless the RNC voluntarily backs him. He’s got no campaign experience whatsoever. Who is going to block walk for him? Who is going to speak for him at local party meetings? Who is going to wave his flag at state conventions?
His base will be sitting in front of the TV, watching reruns of Jersey Shore, while Pawlenty and Romney and Palin roll right over him.
JPL
@arguingwithsignposts: How’d you finally work through it last time? I seem to remember that we chatted lots. I don’t know if that really helped but you turned the corner. What is this sympathy crap? I don’t think we are sympathetic at all.
I’m pretty practical though..make sure you give food and water for the cat. We love her pictures. My son’s cat has been here for a year and I gotta say cats don’t listen and do what they want. Although they expect food and attention on their terms.
Left Coast Tom
@suzanne: As a Sierra Nevada backpacker, I maintain a very healthy respect for bears and their abilities, and think doing otherwise would be foolish.
Paul Begala and his abilities, on the other hand…
gex
@Southern Beale: That was awesome. Pitch perfect.
gex
@arguingwithsignposts: I feel like I understand what you’re trying to say. It’s hard for us not to want to be supportive though. Take care.
@Nerull: Just think. As CIC he can cause acts of God. /shudder
Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people)
Well, he does have the advantage of being the first presidential candidate to have a comedy central roast. I’m sure that’ll put him over the top.
gnomedad
@Redshift:
Thanks for clearing that up; for a moment, I feared for the vibrancy of the comments.
S. cerevisiae
Pat Paulson would have made a better president than Trump.
S. cerevisiae
Thanks as well, Redshift. I didn’t think of that as a trigger word.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@arguingwithsignposts: What you say makes sense. Part of what sucks the most is that regular people –without even recognizing they are doing so– will blame you for your illness, which they’d never do to someone with heart disease, or diabetes, or cancer. So it’s not exactly easy to mention your disease.
If I could accomplish nothing else in my life**, I’d like to see the brain diseases recognized as the physical diseases they are, by the general public, so that we can get rid of the stigma of “mental illness,” as if it’s any less a medical condition than the rest. Including insurance coverage.
**I would consider that an actual, worthwhile achievement.
JPL
@S. cerevisiae: Leona Helmsley would make a better president than Trump.
Mnemosyne
@JPL:
Just wanted to repeat this, with emphasis. I was too ashamed to get treatment for a long time and I lost years out of my life because, hey, I wasn’t suicidal so I couldn’t be that depressed, right? It ended up taking medication and 7 years of therapy to get straightened out.
I say, get thee to a doctor. Now. If your insurance won’t pay for it, find a public clinic. There is NO REASON for you to deal with this by yourself. None.
Anya
@Omnes Omnibus: LOL! But seriously, I don’t get his appeal. He’s an asshole and clearly a sleazebag. In addition to his questionable financial dealings, he has no morals. This is what he said about his OWN daughter, Ivanka, “If she weren’t my daughter, I’d be dating her myself.” What a sleaze ball. Who says shit like that?
Anya
@Southern Beale: Perfection. Even Lewis Black’s manic nature felt appropriate this time.
PurpleGirl
@Anya: But he’s rich. Or they suppose he is. (I have my doubts about just rich he is and what is keeping face and spin.)
Valdivia
@arguingwithsignposts:
Just wanted to give you a shout out saying count me in for anything you need, were here for you!
Mike in NC
Trump wears a dead fucking possum on his head. Per Halperin, that’s what Real Murkins crave! Or something.
Calouste
@hilts:
Halperin was the inspiration for the “This…is…great…news…for…John…McCain” internet meme, was he not?
Was it the week that Obama was speaking in Berlin in front of a million people and McCain was speaking in a retirement center in front of a mint green screen that Halperin still tought McCain had won the week?
sukabi
“Halperin is the best. No. 1, he lives, sleeps, eats, and breathes it. No. 2, he’s smarter than the average bear.
when you’re surrounded by a bunch of mouth breathing idiots, of course you’re going to look smart… even if your IQ registers just barely above the IQ of dog crap.
cat48
I saw a story at Politico last week that rethugs are all running on the “Decline of the US” & most primary folks think it happened when Obama won.
Trump looks “in Decline” so he should fit right in. How does one cheer for “Decline.” Can’t wait to bumper stickers, etc.
Davis X. Machina
@Mnemosyne: Hear, hear. What the lady said.
tkogrumpy
@arguingwithsignposts: Be my guest.
Steeplejack
Comrade DougJ:
Link for Halperin actually taking Trump seriously? Looks like you might have been circling one with “I decided to stop [by] ‘The Page’ and see for myself,” but no. Instead we get a snippet from The View. WTF?!
Trump is a nonstarter. Even in the 27% Teatard Zone he is recognized (I think) as a blowhard empty suit and, probably worse for his prospects, a New Yorker. He doesn’t have Palin’s pseudo-cred of bein’ from the heartland, comin’ up the hard way, fightin’ the Man and fightin’ for real American values, blah, blah, blah (and droppin’ her g’s all the way). He pretty much is the Man, and he revels in it. I don’t think that will fly with the Teatards when push comes to shove. They love seeing him put the wood to people on The Apprentice, but he’s not “real.”
Any notoriety he is getting now is because of (a) the dearth of viable candidates on the Republican side and (b) the “It pisses off liberals” factor. And he’s stoking the hype because the publicity is all good for the Donald.
And, to address a comment above, I don’t think Trump can “self-fund.” He is probably leveraged up the wazoo–and beyond–and is coasting on some sort of weird “too big to fail” mogul status. Probably his status is more like “too tedious to take the time to crush and write off the losses” for his creditors.
ETA: My Teatard Zone research limited to family members. [Shudder]
Valdivia
Trip couldn’t even win jersey or nyc, forget Real America.
I mean isn’t this a publicity stunt?
BattleCobra90000
Name one other GOP candidate with his own line of grade A angus homegrown Merkin superbeef steaks. Go on. That’s right, you can’t.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyONt_ZH_aw
Mnemosyne
Donald Trump is 2012’s Fred Thompson.
Count on it.
Valdivia
@Steeplejack:
I would add that the activity into his financials from running would also be a huge non starter. The divorce, the scandals, the NYC lifestyle.
Not.gonna.happen.
But Halperin can dream right?
Valdivia
@Valdivia:
Ughhhhh. Trump, not Trip.
Hate this fucking phone typing.
Steeplejack
@arguingwithsignposts:
Take a look at this book: The Mood Cure, Julia Ross. Dude. Seriously.
asiangrrlMN
@arguingwithsignposts: I hear ya. This is a bad time of year for me as well. I hate spring and summer. Not giving you sympathy, but empathy. Keep talking to us, man.
@Steeplejack: Hey, you. How you be?
Steeplejack
@Anya:
That’s Jack Lord’s hair from Hawaii Five-O 1.0.
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: And, your link no work, you fix.
sfinny
Trump also has the problem of many people in the New York metro area hating him. Some of these areas are true blue and would not matter to him, but he has pissed off many people in northern westchester county. Even some conservatives/republicans hate him because of a planned golf course in Bedford. But then again, NY politics is bizarre and does not always follow the national trend.
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
FYWP! Corrected link for The Mood Cure, Julia Ross.
GregB
He’s the perfect pick for a nation swirling down the capitalism at its end game bowl.
Loud and bombastic, thinks the world revolves around him.
Give it to him and Palin and let’s have an apocalypse party.
It will be the ultimate reality show.
Valdivia
I guess since Bloomberg is out Trump is a stand in for a rich new yorker with galtian business savvy? The problem is at least Bloomberg had run the city and pretty well at that. Trump is an idiot.
Steeplejack
@asiangrrlMN:
Doing fairly well. Have felt really tired the last few days. Sleeping a good bit but not feeling very rested when I get up.
Parallel 5ths (Irish Steel)
@arguingwithsignposts: Yo, Illinois homie. We have been having some god-awful fronts move through our region. Half the folks I know are just dead tired from the crazy weather. Personally, I feel like I’ve been carrying an extra 20 lbs of concrete around this week.
Give it a couple of days and you might not feel like dancing a jig, but I bet you’ll feel less shitty.
Left Coast Tom
@Steeplejack:
In what sense is Palin “from the heartland”? She was born in Idaho, moved to Alaska as a toddler, flunked out of a bunch of colleges before graduating from one in Idaho…neither AK nor ID are generally “the heartland”, and there’s nothing else there.
asiangrrlMN
@Steeplejack: Werd. I heard that. Still trying to adjust my schedule and get restful sleep. Not easy.
@Parallel 5ths (Irish Steel): Yo. How you be? I miss the Jewish in your Steel.
@Left Coast Tom: She talks with that darn home-spunny accent, your darn tootin’ right she’s from the heartland.
Steeplejack
@Left Coast Tom:
Note: “pseudo-cred.”
And I submit that for the Teatards the “heartland” does not mean some geographical center around the Midwest. It means rural, not big-city, mostly white. You know, real Americans. Alaska and Idaho fit that profile.
Left Coast Tom
@Steeplejack: Isn’t Todd 1/8, or 1/16, or somesuch, Native Alaskan?
asiangrrlMN
@Left Coast Tom: Yes. Snowbilly Snooki uses that to deflect racism charges.
Parallel 5ths (Irish Steel)
@asiangrrlMN: Doin fine. The internets seem just a little more empty with your new sleep schedule.
Now that St. Paddy’s has passed, I’ll have to get the Jew back in my steel. (I can say that but not Soc1alism. huh.)
asiangrrlMN
@Parallel 5ths (Irish Steel): Aw, thanks for that. I’ve missed you guys very much (the late-night crew, I mean). But, I’ve messed with my sleep long enough. It’s time for me to Take Control(TM). And, glad you’ll be getting some Jewish back in your Steel shortly. Why does that sound vaguely dirty?
Parallel 5ths (Irish Steel)
In some cases I think Heartland and fly-over America (or in AK’s case not-even-flown-over) can by used interchangeably.
Parallel 5ths (Irish Steel)
@asiangrrlMN: Nothing vague about it. It’s just straight dirty. But kosher.
asiangrrlMN
@Parallel 5ths (Irish Steel): Kosher and dirty? I’m in!
Cliff
All this means is that Halperin is a First Class Asshole, and Begala is a Second Class Asshole who loves giving head to his betters on the Asshole Hierarchy.
Stop wasting neurons on them.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: Trollop. :)
Hi hon. Long ass day. Not in the mood to discuss much. But a bowl of cereal will cap things nicely methinks.
@arguingwithsignposts: You are in touch enough with youself and honest enough with yourself to recognize that you are not right at this moment. Whether you recognize it or not, that’s huge. Ki o tsukette kudasai tomodachi. (Take care of yourself friend.)
ksmiami
Trump is WAY too ugly to be President… Not to mention he is disgusting. My personal prediction – People are going to watch the Republican primary contest first with mild amusement, then shock, and inevitably, horror that any of the cretins they put up would ensure our decline to third world stature. Obama ain’t perfect, but he is not muthafriggin NUTS…
Bruce S
This is hilarious and comforting! Two people I can’t stand – Trump and Halperin – unwittingly validate each other’s uselessness.
NonyNony
@Mnemosyne:
I was going to say Giuliani rather than Thompson. But I’m not sure either of those are correct – I’m pretty sure that if Trump stages a run it will be to “improve the Trump brand” so that he can get picked up for more TV shows and speaking gigs. Which makes him more like Alan Keyes, I guess.
@Left Coast Tom:
“From the heartland” is Republican code for “not from the coasts or Chicago, and doesn’t have a thick Southern accent.” It’s a tribal identification, not a geographic one.
Steeplejack
@NonyNony:
Well put.
Triassic Sands
Ordinarily, the idea of Trump for president would seem so utterly preposterous that I wouldn’t give it a first thought, let alone a second one.
But, we are talking about the Modern Republican Party where up is down, day is night, and false is true. I don’t know if anything would surprise me anymore coming from Clown Central. I mean, apart from Beck, who’s a bigger clown than Trump? And the bigger the clown, the better the Republican…
BruinKid
@S. cerevisiae: Yes, but the GOP primary voters are nothing like your “average Joe”. Black also said that going birther meant you’re running for the GOP nomination.
People still seem to go to hotels owned by Trump, and give him their money, so don’t underestimate how gullible these GOP primary voters can be.
Tehanu
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
regular people—without even recognizing they are doing so—will blame you for your illness, which they’d never do to someone with heart disease, or diabetes, or cancer.
Are you kidding? I have diabetes (type 2) and people are constantly on my case about why didn’t I lose weight, why did I have that piece of cake, I’m a smart person so why didn’t I know better than to get diabetes? Mostly I just smile and say I picked the wrong grandparents, and I admit it’s not as bad as “why don’t you just cheer up,” but come on!
And btw, I hate Mark Halperin — have done ever since a friend gave me one of his novels and assured me I would like it because “it’s so beautifully written.” Little did she know that “it’s so beautifully written” is practically a determinant for “it’s so goddam pretentious it would make William B. Fuckley choke.”