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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Spaghetti Plots of Doom

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Spaghetti Plots of Doom

by Anne Laurie|  January 19, 20166:57 am| 105 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Election 2016, Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Assholes, I Read These Morons So You Don't Have To, Schadenfreude

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gop doomsday spaghetti polling toles

(Tom Toles via GoComics.com)

Congrats @Mobute on your surprise endorsement of Donald Trump! pic.twitter.com/81Vv1tQSmR

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) January 19, 2016

If Donald Trump's campaign is a Producers level scam to see bad he can be, an endorsement from Sarah Palin would be Springtime for Hitler.

— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) January 19, 2016

I’d be surprised if Palin was the surprise Trump endorser. Cruz has praised her for years for endorsing his 2012 Senate race.

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) January 19, 2016

I went looking for some information on this, and it’s all over the Twitchyverse but nowhere else I can find. The wingnuts are plenty bitter, if RedState is any indication…

Sarah Palin Expected to Continue Endorsing Sarah Palin Today
Donald Trump has been teasing a “major endorsement” that he is scheduled to release today in Iowa, and the rampant speculation is that it will be Sarah Palin’s. I don’t really know if this particular speculation is true, but I do know that if Palin doesn’t endorse Trump today, she will endorse him eventually. At this point, only a particularly aggressive hair splitter would concede that she has not endorsed Trump already.

The last few months have not been pretty for conservatives who have long denied with angry vehemence the allegation that many of the leading figures in the conservative movement were only in it for the money and/or the attention. Liberals have long claimed that this was true about people like Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and a long list of others, especially including Sarah Palin…

The going narrative in and around DC is that the Trump assault has been an eye-opening phenomenon to the GOP Establishment. Maybe, maybe not. I have my doubts about Mitch McConnell and gang’s ability to learn anything, and they are moreover already cozying up to the Trump organization anticipating that he will win the nomination.

On the other hand, it has been an alarmingly eye-opening phenomenon to millions of ordinary conservative Americans who enjoyed consuming talk radio and the serial works of conservative authors, under the (apparently naive) belief that they meant what they said. Because when Trump – who spent his entire life believing in none of those things – came along and started getting ratings, almost all of them to a man jumped on board the train, because the Trump boomlet was so easy to monetize…

… Palin was a tremendously powerful force for good as recently as 2010, in helping many conservatives to oust moderates whose anti-conservative heresies paled noticeably compared to Trump’s. Somewhere along the way, though, Palin realized that there was a lot of money to be made by presenting herself as the victim of a smear campaign orchestrated by a so-called “smart set,” which she in her wily caginess was always able (in her own mind) to outsmart…

Say what you will about Palin, but she is no dummy. She’s smart enough to realize which side her bread is buttered on and it is the side that increases her personal profile by siding with Trump. What she is doing is a rather shrewd way to keep her personal profile high.

It may not be especially principled, or honorable, or in keeping with anything she has professed to believe in since she burst onto the national scene in 2008, but it isn’t stupid…

***********
Apart from waiting on tender hooks (/snark) for the next clown shoe to drop, what’s on the agenda for the day?

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Reader Interactions

105Comments

  1. 1.

    Chris

    January 19, 2016 at 7:01 am

    Does Palin ever matter anymore? I thought the GOP’s attention span had gone past her now that Trump is the shiny new object.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    January 19, 2016 at 7:08 am

    @Chris:

    Remember how much ink Chuck Norris got when he weighed in on politics. The media loves talking about the GOP soap opera, even their bit players.

  3. 3.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    January 19, 2016 at 7:08 am

    @Chris: Trump connects on a completely different level. No Repub would ever admit to Trump causing package enlargement.

  4. 4.

    David *Born in the USA* Koch

    January 19, 2016 at 7:10 am

    Gallup — Monday, January 18 – President Obama’s Job Ratings

    Approve………………..51%
    Disapprove……………45%

    At this point in Bush’s presidency his ratings were: 32% approve, 64% disapprove.

    Bush had a corporate media cheerleading him every step of way and an opposition party that was respectful.

    President Obama had a corporate media attacking him from every angle from day one and an opposition so fueled by racist hate that they’re going to commit political suicide and nominate a buffoon just because he validates their racist hated of the President.

  5. 5.

    NorthLeft12

    January 19, 2016 at 7:10 am

    I don’t agree that this is the smart move for Palin in the long run. When the Donald flames out/gets bored/implodes she will have alienated her “fans” and in the long run be left with nothing. Yeah, short term this might be the way to boost her steadily falling profile/stature/base, but long term I think she will have nothing left and will completely disappear from the political scene.

    Hmmmmmmm, in that case,…….you go girl!

  6. 6.

    Baud

    January 19, 2016 at 7:11 am

    @David *Born in the USA* Koch:

    You’ve convinced me. Obama is the better president.

  7. 7.

    MattF

    January 19, 2016 at 7:17 am

    I’m making a long list of Republicans to watch what they say if Trump is nominated. Or even if Cruz is nominated. Or even if Bush is nominated.

    Rubio, I suppose, would just slide right in without a bump, even given his recent oopsies.

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 19, 2016 at 7:21 am

    It may not be especially principled, or honorable,

    I find that Eric son of Eric speaking of principles or honor has cognitive dissonance reaching infinity.

  9. 9.

    David *Born in the USA* Koch

    January 19, 2016 at 7:22 am

    I can’t wait for the incoherent word salad to fall out of her mouth

    Somewhere Andy Kaufman is kicking himself for not coming up with this performance art.

  10. 10.

    David *Born in the USA* Koch

    January 19, 2016 at 7:25 am

    @Baud: you wouldn’t know it from reading various erudite progressive blogs

  11. 11.

    BGinCHI

    January 19, 2016 at 7:26 am

    Not to be all pedantic, AL, but I think you want “tenterhooks” there….

    Unless that was a Palinism.

    In which case….bravo!

    ETA: I read right by the parenthetical. Yes, I am stupid.

  12. 12.

    Baud

    January 19, 2016 at 7:26 am

    @David *Born in the USA* Koch:

    Yeah, that’s why I stopped reading those blogs.

  13. 13.

    Sunhaws

    January 19, 2016 at 7:26 am

    I live in Iowa. Got robocall message inviting me to this Trump event in Ames. We’ve never voted anything but Democratic. Several friends with same voting pedigree also received The Donald’s invitation. He must be calling everyone. Bad weather here today though, so don’t think I’ll make it.

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 19, 2016 at 7:27 am

    @NorthLeft12: You forget something. Most Republicans* are brain damaged.

    *hard to come to any other conclusion at this point in the Obama Presidency

  15. 15.

    Baud

    January 19, 2016 at 7:29 am

    @Sunhaws:

    Supposedly, his message is resonating with many Democratic voters.

    Or he just cares about audience size. I think he would also welcome protestors. Enhances the carnival atmosphere.

  16. 16.

    David *Born in the USA* Koch

    January 19, 2016 at 7:30 am

    @Sunhaws: I would like to go so I could ignite some fire crackers just to watch him freak-out.

  17. 17.

    MomSense

    January 19, 2016 at 7:33 am

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
    That is such a creepy photo.

  18. 18.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 19, 2016 at 7:34 am

    @Baud:

    I think he would also welcome protestors. Enhances the carnival atmosphere.

    That’s why he has them beat up.

  19. 19.

    zzyzx

    January 19, 2016 at 7:35 am

    “Palin was a tremendously powerful force for good as recently as 2010,”

    I’m not sure how anyone can write that with a straight face.

  20. 20.

    Baud

    January 19, 2016 at 7:36 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    It’s like the WWE.

  21. 21.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 19, 2016 at 7:37 am

    @Baud:

    I think he would also welcome protesters. Enhances the carnival atmosphere.

    Spot on. This (link is from a commenter at Booman) is a very interesting read.

  22. 22.

    Sherparick

    January 19, 2016 at 7:40 am

    The base of the Republican Party is about resentment, self-righteous resentment, and tribal solidarity. Since the repeal of the fairness doctrine, it has been about monetizing all the resentment these losers in the global corporation dominated economy and directing it downward to those they perceive as lower on the social scale and even more outsiders then they are in the economy..

  23. 23.

    Mike J

    January 19, 2016 at 7:41 am

    @Sunhaws:

    I live in Iowa. Got robocall message inviting me to this Trump event in Ames. We’ve never voted anything but Democratic. Several friends with same voting pedigree also received The Donald’s invitation. He must be calling everyone.

    I read somewhere of a woman who is registered as an independent, and therefore can’t caucus on either side. She was excited because the trump campaign had contacted her,saying he was the first to ever make an attempt.

    I’ve never thought of registered independents as being the sharpest tools in the shed. I do find it hilarious that Trump is spending money on people who aren’t even allowed to vote for him. I suppose there could be a person or two who bothers to fill out a whole new voter registration form to change party affiliation, but I can’t imagine there would be that many. Even the woman I cited didn’t indicate that she was going to become a Republican.

  24. 24.

    Baud

    January 19, 2016 at 7:45 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I’m waiting for Trump to get fighter jets to do a flyover at one of his rallies.

  25. 25.

    Keith G

    January 19, 2016 at 7:45 am

    Today there is a NYT story looking at the nature of the evangelical support for Donald Trump. The self-serving irrationality of these folks is breathtaking. This is religion as an ethnic identity reinforcer.

  26. 26.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 19, 2016 at 7:46 am

    @Baud: with costumes and everything

  27. 27.

    Matt McIrvin

    January 19, 2016 at 7:46 am

    @David *Born in the USA* Koch: If you look at the articles on Gallup’s website, they’re trying to spin it as negatively as they possibly can. They talk about his average approval for the past several years being below 50%, his approval among union members dropping (to 52%), etc.

  28. 28.

    Kay

    January 19, 2016 at 7:48 am

    @Mike J:

    It can mean they’re doing “outreach” or they’re just desperate for warm bodies at events. I once got a call to go to a Palin event that was 50 miles away the night before the event. It’s when I started to doubt her popularity. They must have just been calling the entire registered voter pool.

  29. 29.

    Matt McIrvin

    January 19, 2016 at 7:49 am

    @Mike J:

    She was excited because the trump campaign had contacted her,saying he was the first to ever make an attempt.

    That’s a perfect example of how important this is in a political campaign. (A couple of years ago, a state-legislature candidate who lived in town basically won my vote by calling me up in person.)

  30. 30.

    C.V. Danes

    January 19, 2016 at 7:50 am

    Palin was s force for good? OMFG.

  31. 31.

    Iowa Old Lady

    January 19, 2016 at 7:52 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: My reaction to reading that went from laughing to being kind of scared.

  32. 32.

    Baud

    January 19, 2016 at 7:59 am

    @C.V. Danes:

    The last good thing she did was help pad the numbers for Obama in 2008.

  33. 33.

    amk

    January 19, 2016 at 8:01 am

    redstate? tundra twit? really?

  34. 34.

    Matt McIrvin

    January 19, 2016 at 8:04 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: This is where I lol’d.:

    Because there’s no way a guy sitting alone wearing a Pikachu hat cheering on Trump hasn’t called Zoe Quinn a bitch at some point in time.

  35. 35.

    currants

    January 19, 2016 at 8:05 am

    @Sunhaws: Umm yeah, watch that. He invited vastly more people to an event in VT as the venue could hold. Not entirely sure what the goal was (“sold out crowds”?), but….

  36. 36.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 19, 2016 at 8:13 am

    @Mike J: He gets buzz on Joe of the Morning when he gets big crowds(as does Bernie).

  37. 37.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 19, 2016 at 8:16 am

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Yes, by the end it was pretty sobering, what with the overt racism and incipient violence and the old woman working at Wendy’s.

  38. 38.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 19, 2016 at 8:18 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    For me, it was the description of the overweight white guy booing references to Black Lives Matter — wearing a FUBU sweatsuit.

  39. 39.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 19, 2016 at 8:20 am

    @efgoldman: I’m nocturnal.

  40. 40.

    HinTN

    January 19, 2016 at 8:21 am

    @David *Born in the USA* Koch:

    Somewhere Andy Kaufman is kicking himself for not coming up with this performance art.

    FTW

  41. 41.

    magurakurin

    January 19, 2016 at 8:28 am

    @C.V. Danes: Palin definitely was a force for good. Granpa’s selection of her as his running mate ensured his loss and Obama’s victory.

  42. 42.

    raven

    January 19, 2016 at 8:34 am

    Listening to Trump talk is like watching a Bingo ball-picker at a retirement community choose colorful buzz phrases and announce them through the PA in whatever order they’re drawn, really really fast, while old people cheer and are not actually sure if they’re winning or not. +

  43. 43.

    FlipYrWhig

    January 19, 2016 at 8:41 am

    Palin and Trump: 2 peas 1 pod. Palin is white grievance with boobs, Trump is white grievance with cash.

  44. 44.

    Matt McIrvin

    January 19, 2016 at 8:46 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: See, he can’t be a racist!

  45. 45.

    MattF

    January 19, 2016 at 8:54 am

    @Keith G: The article is interesting because Der Trump is ‘way ahead of all the candidates who try to appeal specifically to evangelicals. Makes me think that the people who go to Trump rallies aren’t quite the same crowd as people who would vote for him. There’s a whole group who ardently believe that the Apocalypse is coming, and Trump may be God’s chosen agent. Or something. Number of the Beast? Do I hear a bid? DCLXVI?

  46. 46.

    Dupe1970

    January 19, 2016 at 8:58 am

    I love how the elitist educated at Princeton and Harvard who had dual US/Canadian citizenship (http://www.wmur.com/politics/classmate-cruz-checked-on-citizenship-issue-since-childhood/37321574) whose father “fought” for Castro (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/10/us/politics/cuban-peers-dispute-ted-cruzs-fathers-story-of-fighting-for-castro.html?_r=0) is in fact the “real” conservative.

  47. 47.

    NotMax

    January 19, 2016 at 8:59 am

    No reason other than it is sedately humorous and gives new meaning to taking your car to work – literally.

  48. 48.

    rikyrah

    January 19, 2016 at 8:59 am

    Good Morning, Everyone :)

  49. 49.

    MattF

    January 19, 2016 at 9:02 am

    @NotMax: I can’t imagine driving that on a highway. I don’t think that truck drivers would be able to see you.

  50. 50.

    raven

    January 19, 2016 at 9:04 am

    @NotMax: We went to the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum before it closed. There were tons of cool little rides but I like the “Singer” best.

  51. 51.

    Ken

    January 19, 2016 at 9:07 am

    @NorthLeft12: I’ve not seen any long-term thinking, versus doing whatever feels best at the moment.

  52. 52.

    rk

    January 19, 2016 at 9:11 am

    @Sunhaws:

    I would never even dream of going to a Trump rally. I’m not white and the people at his rally actually frighten me. None of my non white friends would ever consider going. I wonder if any of the media talking heads ever consider the impact Trump is having on minorities.

  53. 53.

    MattF

    January 19, 2016 at 9:14 am

    @David *Born in the USA* Koch: That would be a dangerous thing to do, considering that some of the attendees would be armed. “Oh, it was just firecrackers. What a pity.”

  54. 54.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 19, 2016 at 9:15 am

    @rk: This is America. Minorities don’t count

  55. 55.

    The Golux

    January 19, 2016 at 9:17 am

    @David *Born in the USA* Koch:

    Somewhere Andy Kaufman is kicking himself…

    Are we sure that the real Donald Trump isn’t tied up in a basement somewhere, and what we’ve been experiencing is Andy Kaufman back from the dead?

    Makes more sense that way.

  56. 56.

    NotMax

    January 19, 2016 at 9:22 am

    @raven

    Speaking of museums, learned only this past week that there used to be a Sid and Marty Krofft (they of H.R. Pufnstuf) museum in Atlanta.

  57. 57.

    TG Chicago

    January 19, 2016 at 9:22 am

    Say what you will about Palin, but she is no dummy.

    I think I’ll say that she’s a dummy.

  58. 58.

    NotMax

    January 19, 2016 at 9:26 am

    @TG Chicago

    Charlie McCarthy was a dummy.

    Palin is an ignoramus who revels in her ignoramusness.

  59. 59.

    danielx

    January 19, 2016 at 9:26 am

    An endorsement from Snowbilly Snooki? I could have sworn she’d passed her sell-by date.

    Several times.

  60. 60.

    raven

    January 19, 2016 at 9:26 am

    @NotMax: It was where the OMNI was before they tore that down.

    <The park was built in the Omni International complex. It opened with great fanfare on May 26, 1976, and was featured prominently at the host segments during the first season of the Saturday morning program Krofft Supershow. Still, it suffered from poor attendance, and was closed just six months later on November 10. The Kroffts partially blamed the park's failure on the fact that, at the time, downtown Atlanta was experiencing urban decay and generally was not considered a safe place for a family outing. Others noted that the park was "overpriced," especially when compared to the much larger Six Flags Over Georgia. Dr. Dana White, professor of Urban Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, remarked, "People were thinking of it as a full-day, family experience but it only took a couple hours. It wasn’t worth the money or the drive."[1]

  61. 61.

    MomSense

    January 19, 2016 at 9:26 am

    @MattF:

    Maybe it’s bigger on the inside? It is Tardis blue.

    @rk:

    Haven’t heard anything about the impact on minorities. After the push back about the recruitment video quote, I doubt we will hear anything about it.

  62. 62.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 19, 2016 at 9:29 am

    @TG Chicago: Not me. She has shown a certain shrewd intelligence in turning base ignorance into a multi-million dollar venture. I certainly couldn’t do it.

  63. 63.

    NotMax

    January 19, 2016 at 9:29 am

    @MattF

    Oh, I’d be scared to death on a road myself. But it’s when he gets to work, unwinds his 6’5″ frame from the seat and picks up the car to bring it inside that cracks me up.

  64. 64.

    Satby

    January 19, 2016 at 9:34 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: I read the whole thing… amazeballs. They’re exactly as stupid and hateful as we think they are.

  65. 65.

    NotMax

    January 19, 2016 at 9:40 am

    @raven

    Whatever one may think of the Krofft output, they’ve been doing this stuff for a mind-boggling 60 years now. My understanding is they have a new show currently on Nickelodeon.

    As to the OMNI – built in ’76 and since tom down? Talk about epic obsolescence.

  66. 66.

    Yutsano

    January 19, 2016 at 9:43 am

    @NorthLeft12: When your opponent is making a mistake, let them.

  67. 67.

    FlipYrWhig

    January 19, 2016 at 9:52 am

    @NotMax: ’76, pshaw. Aren’t the Atlanta Braves moving to the suburbs because their stadium — originally built for the 1996 Olympics — isn’t satisfactory to them anymore?

  68. 68.

    Mike J

    January 19, 2016 at 9:57 am

    @FlipYrWhig: St Louis city and county are each paying $6 million a year for the next five years to pay off the stadium for the Los Angeles Rams.

  69. 69.

    Satby

    January 19, 2016 at 10:01 am

    @Mike J: Which is why localities shouldn’t give any of the major sports teams a nickel of subsidies or tax breaks.

  70. 70.

    NorthLeft12

    January 19, 2016 at 10:14 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Re-Republicans being brain damaged;Yes, they certainly have lost pretty much all of their short term memory, so it is completely possible that this too will be forgotten or rationalized away.

  71. 71.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 19, 2016 at 10:24 am

    @NorthLeft12: If only the damage was limited to short term memory and didn’t also extend to reasoning and empathy.

  72. 72.

    NorthLeft12

    January 19, 2016 at 10:24 am

    @Ken: I think you are right. Palin’s political career has been a continuous series of short term moves. She really has never finished anything that she has started.

    And the worst part of that is that it seems to have worked out for her in the RWNJ world that she inhabits. In the real world [which is growing increasingly larger] she is a pathetic joke and grifter. I don’t believe in heaven or hell anymore, but I can see her being completely discredited and outcast within the next five years or so.

  73. 73.

    Bubblegum Tate

    January 19, 2016 at 10:44 am

    @danielx:

    An endorsement from Snowbilly Snooki? I could have sworn she’d passed her sell-by date.

    She mostly is. She still has her hardcore fans (for whatever reason), but most of wingnuttia has made the journey from starbursts to “meh,” and now some of them are bitter because they realized that she’s been scamming them (though they don’t want to admit out loud that they got grifted by such a noted dimwit).

    Anecdotally, one wingnut I know was straight-up issuing death threats to a liberal commenter who mocked Palin and called her a quitter when she…you know…quit (the governorship). It was on some “I will duel you to defend her honor!” Fast forward to a couple years ago, and what do you know? He wrote an angry comment about how Palin was just in it for the money–i.e. admitting that the damn dirty LIEbruls were right all along.

  74. 74.

    danielx

    January 19, 2016 at 10:51 am

    Ooooh! Yet another anguished appeal from Bobo to the Republican Party of his dreams, in which the Party has not been hijacked by uneducated yahoos who have no concept of the deference they owe to…a candidate favored by David Brooks, whoever that candidate might be.

    So maybe it’s time for governing Republicans to actually do something. Yes, I’m talking to you state legislators, or local committeepersons, or members of Congress and all your networks of donors and supporters. If MoveOn can organize, if the Tea Party can organize, if Justin Bieber can build a gigantic social media movement, why are you incapable of any collective action at all?

    What’s needed is a grass-roots movement that stands for governing conservatism, built both online and through rallies, and gets behind a single candidate sometime in mid- to late February. In politics, if A (Trump) and B (Cruz) savage each other then the benefits often go to Candidate C. But there has to be a C, not a C, D, E, F and G.

    Snort….giggle…snigger…guffaw…tears rolling from my eyes as I roll on the floor….

    David – may I call you David? thanks, I will – you gotta stop, you’re killing me here. I don’t know how you missed this, but the “less educated” voters to which you refer are driving the clown car. Your Party has stoked their resentments for three decades in the interest of getting their votes, and for reasons that you are evidently at a complete loss to explain those voters have decided that Your Party’s preferred candidates do not represent their interests. The fact that Your Party’s only real interest and policy is defending and increasing the net worth of its wealthiest contributors, in part via the repeated rogering of those same proles, seems to have slipped by you as well. Those people want someone as president who will give them the pounds of flesh to which they feel they are entitled, and they’re going to have him – one way or another. If he goes downs in ideologically pure flames in the general election, it will only be further proof of the vast conspiracy against true Amuricans – you know, the conspiracy of and including anyone who doesn’t look like, think or vote the way they do. A group which emphatically does not, in their view, include twits who get extremely well paid to write complete gibberish for the op-ed page of the NY Times, a publication they regard as furthering the continued spread of soshulism and hence unworthy and unbelievable.

    So take a Valium or something, get over yourself and stop whinging. You’re as responsible as anyone else for the demise of your beloved Party, since your appeals to the better angels of the Republican Party’s nature (such as they are) are about two decades too late.

  75. 75.

    The Pale Scot

    January 19, 2016 at 10:55 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: That is Epic

    saw a lot of guys who just need to hit something to feel alive, and opted to keep my head low. I’ve been punched in the face enough in this life.

    That perfectly describes the Fox/Rush audience Despite their protestations that life/America is going downhill, they are comfortable enough to resent the notion that they’re headed to the graveyard without ever experiencing the exhilaration of knowing that the USA is supreme like it was after WW2. Lived thru the largest economic expansion ever, had to deal with the threat of getting nuked without ever whacking the commies. They need to feel they’re in peril.

    It’s sort of like something I once read, “Russians don’t feel Russian unless they have their boot on someone’s neck.

  76. 76.

    jimmiraybob

    January 19, 2016 at 10:58 am

    Personally, I think that Mamma Bear – The Roguening II would be smart on the Trumpenfuhrer’s part to solidify the base that he wants (I can vividly remember videos of her appearances with the Real America crowd). What better way to give the finger to “The Establishment” than to turn that thing loose again. This is not an endorsement, just an observation and I receive no remuneration from the Comedian’s Guild of the Universe. Then in eight years they can bring her out of hibernation again for another attempt to scare America sh#tless.

  77. 77.

    MattF

    January 19, 2016 at 11:06 am

    @danielx: And it seems like only yesterday that he was warming up to the neocon-inspired ‘national greatness’ policy– and now, this. How… disappointing.

    ETA: Perhaps, someday, he’ll notice that local Republican politicians are generally even crazier than Trump or Cruz.

  78. 78.

    danielx

    January 19, 2016 at 11:12 am

    @MattF:

    As some wise person once said, it is mandatory (for Villagers, anyway) to read what David Brooks wrote this week.

    It is forbidden to read (or maybe it’s remember? or quote?) what David Brooks wrote last week.

    Or for that matter any other Brooks column written in the past, for whatever publication.

    ETA: those local pols are some of the proles – you know, those “less educated voters” to which my man Dave referred.

  79. 79.

    FlipYrWhig

    January 19, 2016 at 11:18 am

    @danielx: “A grassroots movement for governing conservatism”? Isn’t that an obvious contradiction in terms? “What do we want?” “Kludgy compromises that move the needle marginally to the right!” “When do we want it?” “Always!”

  80. 80.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 19, 2016 at 11:21 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: I liked that he pointed out how the Trumpian Word Salad, the stream of non-sequiturs that goes from Tom Brady to the Wall to China in sixty seconds. Since so many of his Sunday Show interviews are phone in, a lot of times when they’re endlessly replayed, there are captions, and it really drives home how weirdly incoherent the man is. I find it fascinating to watch his brain lurch around– not like Palin who’s trying to make sense and can’t, he doesn’t care about making sense– and somewhere between heart-breaking and infuriating that so many people find his brand of buzzword bingo to be “leadership”

    and that Letterman clip where he promises to start making his ties on Long Island should be in somebody’s campaign commercial

    (And for my own non-sequitur: MSNBC is now interviewing Montel Williams about the recently released Iranian prisoners)

  81. 81.

    MattF

    January 19, 2016 at 11:25 am

    The Capital Weather Gang is noting that all the simulations are converging on a big storm Friday:

    D.C. metro area snow probabilities

    Chance of at least 1 inch: 90 percent
    Chance of at least 4 inches: 75 percent
    Chance of at least 8 inches: 65 percent
    Chance of at least 12 inches: 50 percent
    Chance of at least 20 inches: 15 percent

    Oy.

  82. 82.

    JPL

    January 19, 2016 at 11:27 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: (And for my own non-sequitur: MSNBC is now interviewing Montel Williams about the recently released Iranian prisoners)
    Why not. They let morning Joe, just make up shit all the time. I hope they have enough shovels to clean up the mess.

  83. 83.

    FlipYrWhig

    January 19, 2016 at 11:28 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: He’s such a bullshit artist. I don’t really understand what “leadership” is but it seems to me that provoking the reaction “what the fuck is he even talking about?” is not a hallmark of A Leader.

  84. 84.

    MattF

    January 19, 2016 at 11:30 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I think Trump just sets the dial to ‘asshole’ and then just lets it rip. No ‘thought’ involved.

  85. 85.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 19, 2016 at 11:33 am

    @FlipYrWhig: I don’t really understand what “leadership” is

    To most of the GOP field and no small chunk of the MSM, it’s speaking the magic adjectives what will end terrorism forever.
    To largely that same chunk of the MSM, led by Cole’s good friend Ron Fournier (see the tweets at right), It’s gutting the social safety net
    to Trump and his howler monkeys, it’s repeating over and over again, “I’m/We’re not politically correct” (which phrase I heard Montel Williams use in one of the moments I un-muted his lengthy monologue on MSNBC, which included a couple of shout-outs to what sounds like some business venture he’s running with ex-CIA head and Iraq War/9/11 conspiracy theorist James Woolsey. Great work, EvenTheLiberal)

  86. 86.

    sigaba

    January 19, 2016 at 11:34 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Has anyone here actually tried to get into a Trump rally? I dunno how much he welcomes protestors, naively or slyly- a friend of mine tried to get into rally with her family when she was back home in Vermont for the holidays, apparently they profile everyone in line, if you don’t look right staffers quiz you on your political beliefs and Trump knowledge.

  87. 87.

    sukabi

    January 19, 2016 at 11:51 am

    @Baud: sure he would welcome protesters, someone has to be the object of his supporters wrath.

  88. 88.

    Mai.naem.mobile

    January 19, 2016 at 11:57 am

    I’m guessing Sarah is not thinking long term . I actually think because she’s grown up relatively poor/lower middle class and in Alaska she’s probably stashed away a good part of the grifting money she’s made. She’s selling the house she bought in AZ during the real estate crash so she should make a nice profit. A good part of her appeal is based on her looks so she’ll be getting dwcreasing returns on that part. They’ll always be some Palinistas who’ll pay to see her so she can always do a few gigs yearly for her living expenses. I don’t think she gives a crap about politics, just the $$$ she can stash away for her retirement.

  89. 89.

    Frankensteinbeck

    January 19, 2016 at 12:05 pm

    it has been an alarmingly eye-opening phenomenon to millions of ordinary conservative Americans

    Possibly. I’d like to think so. Mostly non-black minority Americans, of course, the chunk that was still sure the Republicans didn’t mean them.

    who enjoyed consuming talk radio and the serial works of conservative authors, under the (apparently naive) belief that they meant what they said.

    Oh, wait, nevermind. No, you’re dreaming. They haven’t opened their eyes to a damn thing, just moved on to the shiniest new toy who’s offering them the purest race hate.

    Palin was a tremendously powerful force for good as recently as 2010

    Fuck you if you think anything Palin stands for or accomplished is ‘good.’ I try to be mostly polite, but you know what? FUCK YOU.

    Say what you will about Palin, but she is no dummy.

    She’s a moron so dumb she steals what would have been given to her if she’d waited two hours.

    She’s smart enough to realize which side her bread is buttered on

    but it isn’t stupid…

    Yes, it’s stupid. The dumbest animals are smart enough to realize which side their bread is buttered on. I’m not being trite, I’m serious. It does not take brains to go ‘The crowd is screaming for X. That’s where I’ll go!’ Similarly…
    @OzarkHillbilly:
    Two points. A) Most of that was handed to her through no work of her own. She’s the conservative lottery winner, the random schmuck picked out of the crowd by conservative leaders like the Kochs, Kristol, and McCain because she had a pretty face and they thought she was manipulable. Turns out, she’s too dumb for that, but once McCain made her famous there’s always been someone who thinks she’s worth a few bucks to spew word salad to keep the Tea Party riled up. She’s rich through luck, not brains. B) What intellect she has is devoted to one single skill: Grifting. That much is clear. She’s a short-term-thinking con artist, so she at least has kinda mostly been able to run with the luck she’s been handed. She can do what you can’t because she’s devoted herself to that skill and you haven’t even played with it casually.

  90. 90.

    Frankensteinbeck

    January 19, 2016 at 12:05 pm

    …possibly I don’t respect Sarah Palin very much.

  91. 91.

    sunhaws

    January 19, 2016 at 12:09 pm

    @Mike J:

    You can change your registration at the door, so it’s not very difficult to do. I have friends who are die-hard Democrats but who skipped the 2012 cycle caucus as Obama was obviously a lock. They caucused for Santorum as they viewed him as the weakest opponent for Obama to face. They switched to Republican on the way in the door. Of course their neighbors who knew they were died in the wool Democrats gave them a hard time at the caucus, but it’s allowed. :)

  92. 92.

    Curt

    January 19, 2016 at 12:12 pm

    I read both the Redstate post quoted and the Brooks article mentioned above, and both times I had to take breaks for fear of Schadenfreude poisoning.

  93. 93.

    Frankensteinbeck

    January 19, 2016 at 12:23 pm

    @danielx:

    The fact that Your Party’s only real interest and policy is defending and increasing the net worth of its wealthiest contributors

    Unfair. Up until now beating up minorities, Christianist self-righteousness, and plutocracy have more or less wanted the same things, and everyone David Brooks cares about has agreed this is responsible and intelligent and brave and not racist at all. He wants so badly for it to be Morning In America again.

  94. 94.

    Tim C.

    January 19, 2016 at 12:43 pm

    So I’m 40. Means that I was five when Regan became president. So I’m asking people who were adults at the time. Regan clearly seems to be dogwhistling racism all over his campaign, from that armpit in Mississippi where he kicks things off to his comments about “T-bone steaks” and all that. Was that not as clear at the time? Was it so close to the civil rights movement that not shouting the N-word at the top of you lungs the minimum accepted standard? I know the Regan worshippers keep hoping it will be 1980 again, but what was 1980 really like? Again, all I have to go in is memories of my very nice kindergarten teacher.

  95. 95.

    Soylent Green

    January 19, 2016 at 1:08 pm

    @NorthLeft12:

    When the Donald flames out/gets bored/implodes

    This has been repeated as gospel since Trump announced he was running.

    But the man is on a roll. Gaining ground in the polls and enjoying himself immensely. There is nothing he can say that’s too outrageous. I think he has a lock on the nomination.

  96. 96.

    jimmiraybob

    January 19, 2016 at 1:19 pm

    @Tim C.:

    I think that reviewing what came to be known as the Southern Strategy, articulated by Reagan consultant (republican strategist) Lee Atwater would be helpful. Atwater:

    You start out in 1954 by saying, “Nigger, nigger, nigger.” By 1968 you can’t say “nigger”—that hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like, uh, forced busing, states’ rights, and all that stuff, and you’re getting so abstract. Now, you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites.… “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, uh, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “Nigger, nigger.”

    Judge for thine self. (the only thing i have a solid memory about regarding kindergarten are the giant Lincoln Logs….good times)

    Source: http://www.thenation.com/article/exclusive-lee-atwaters-infamous-1981-interview-southern-strategy/

  97. 97.

    jackmac

    January 19, 2016 at 1:44 pm

    Sarah Palin described as “shrewd” is quite unnerving. Then again, it came from Red State.

  98. 98.

    Paul in KY

    January 19, 2016 at 2:00 pm

    @Tim C.: It was clear to me. I was mad at Pres. Carter (boycotting Olympics), so I voted for Anderson.

    I was a bit of a dip back then.

  99. 99.

    Ridnik Chrome

    January 19, 2016 at 2:01 pm

    You could have dragged a minority into that room and thrown a baseball bat on the ground and a fucking line would have formed

    The line the stood out for me in the piece Siubhan Diunne linked. That is terrifying…

  100. 100.

    Tim C.

    January 19, 2016 at 3:16 pm

    @Paul in KY: About that age I ate a whole tube of toothpaste so sounds like we were on the same level.

  101. 101.

    Ramalama

    January 19, 2016 at 3:50 pm

    I’m having a difficult time tarring all Republicans with the stupid brush. I loathe just about everything they’ve done while all 3 branches were in power (the dark Bush years), but I think people voting how they vote says a lot more about their willingness to be duped rather than how high (or low) their IQs are.

    It kind of reminds me of how common it is for people to equate how smart someone is with the level of their education. Not the same.

  102. 102.

    Tim C.

    January 19, 2016 at 4:05 pm

    @Ramalama: I agree, you are completely correct. Saying “stupid” is a great way to be dismissive without engaging in the real problem. I don’t think the GOP is filled with stupid people so much as the classically ignorant and tribal. In fact one of the few things that has been a great strength and a great weakness for them has been the ability to be very effective and even logical from within their own frame of reference.

  103. 103.

    RaflW

    January 19, 2016 at 4:20 pm

    NYT now saying indeed is is La Palin doin’ the Endorsin’

    The GOP shitshow continues, and is as boring as ever.

  104. 104.

    Paul in KY

    January 20, 2016 at 10:00 am

    @Tim C.: In hindsight, I agree.

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