Rubio would be perfect as DiNozzo’s smarmy younger brother if NCIS needs to punch up the ratings. Or evil twin. That works too.
2.
Dork
The guy’s in his mid 40s, has ~10 months left on a cush gig, but then he’s outtie and not good with money, from all accounts. IOWs, he’s gunna need a job for another ~20 years. What jobs require a weasel? What about a lying weasel? Mayor of Miami Beach? Paperboy?
Weatherly is leaving the show; maybe lil Marco can replace him.
5.
peach flavored shampoo
@Dork: I’m convinced that just before he announced he wouldn’t also run for Senate, he was given a promise of a $600K/yr consulting gig with some K Street lobbyist group. No way he simply jettisons his best paying job to date without knowing he’s trading it in for something even easier and more lucrative.
6.
JPL
That was so cute. Someday he’ll wake and realize that the electorate didn’t like him. God can only do so much.
7.
Hal
Has Rubio done anything in his adult life in the private sector? I’m sure he’ll more than make out well with some cushy job, but he’s really going to have to rely on the kindness of big money donors and former colleagues for the rest of his life. He does get a pension as a former senator also, correct? Not bad.
8.
Elie
What a hoot that clip was… I gotta check out this guy on other stuff… very funny — sharp wit too…
9.
Benw
Maybe Cole will sling some pity $ Marco’s way by paying him to do the next site redesign.
Has Rubio done anything in his adult life in the private sector?
drug mule, rent boy,…
11.
jl
Wilmore cracked some time ago that Trump is the kind of person who believes something is true just because he just heard himself say it. Below is some more evidence that the Wilmore crack is really a true fact.
Trump Reveals His Foreign Policy Adviser: ‘I’m Speaking With Myself’ (VIDEO)
TPM blog
“I’m speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I said a lot of things,” Trump replied.
Back when I read the Great Orange Satan, there was an article about how the end of the W administration yanked the jobs away from all the R flunkies who had journeyed from their hometowns to hobnob in DC.
Now they had to go back.
Didn’t feel sorry for them. Feel even less sorry for Rubio.
13.
dedc79
I think Frenchy’s job prospects were far better than Rubio’s
Lord have mercy on us… You.Just.Cant.Make.This.Shit.Up!
This man must not be allowed to get anywhere near the White House — not even for a visit…
There is something cognitively wrong with this guy….
17.
Mike R
Dopey would work, or perhaps a new character maybe Thirsty.
18.
Elie
Seriously, I am very concerned that Trump has no psychological “governors”. He has no limits and I do not doubt for a minute that he would do anything, say anything, incite anything to prevail. I wonder if the administration is starting to model some security vignettes that might arise with this joker. I am hoping that all people of good will will eventually work together to defeat this thing…..
19.
trollhattan
@Dork:
Pretty sure Eric Cantor can hook a brother up. There’s a club, a secret handshake, a path and everything. Li’l Marco can be some investment firm’s bauble.
20.
Calouste
@Steve in the ATL: Was going to say, there are rumors that Rubio has done something in his adult life in the private sector, with the emphasis on adult and private.
21.
Elie
Its interesting, the approach by the Republicans and largely the MSM to deal with the excesses of Trump’s statements and incitements have been more or less to ignore them or try to minimize them. Sure there have been some guarded statements by some R leaders to oppose his statements, but they have mostly been understated statements — the kid glove approach. As time goes on, when you are dealing with a psychologically aggressive and unstable personality, if you do not set firm limits, they keep pushing forward. Where is the limit here? To me, his threats to incite riots if he doesn’t get the R nomination do not yet name a target, but I could see him making personal threats (he HAS made veiled threats against Bernie). I am not convinced that treating this guy with kid gloves is the best thing, though I am sure people are afraid of angering his followers and stimulating them to “defend” him. That said, there needs to be a trip wire that allows the system to let him and his followers to know ” this is now enough”. Is there a trip wire? Will he just keep moving the bar up and up?
22.
PurpleGirl
I was laughing out loud at that video clip…. GOP Drop Out… Brilliant. I then played the one about Carly Fiorina. Also LOL good. I have to check out some of Randy Rainbows other work.
I have no idea what the plan is, but since Jackson killed the national bank and was a genocidal asshole to boot, it makes more sense to replace him instead. Just sayin’.
24.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Fox commenters rage against Megyn.
@srv: You always deliver the goods. That’s some of the most unhinged shit I’ve ever read in my life.
25.
CONGRATULATIONS!
That said, there needs to be a trip wire that allows the system to let him and his followers to know ” this is now enough”. Is there a trip wire?
@Elie: Sure there is. The media could yank their coverage of him. Had they done this six months ago we wouldn’t be talking about him. At all.
They could still do it now.
What do you think the odds of that actually happening are?
@CONGRATULATIONS!: Yup. Good God, there really are people who manage the daily business of life who are utterly convinced that Obama is a Muslim. Presumably a gay atheist communist Sharia Law Muslim.
28.
Eric S.
@jl: I saw the Trump foreign policy quote earlier today. I couldn’t help laughing out loud. I think to keep myself from crying. This moron is going to be the GOP presidential nominee.
29.
Bill E Pilgrim
Ah, the Rubio slippers. Such memories this campaign season has created already, as we savor the comedy while wishing the whole thing had never happened. It’s like being vaguely amused by monkeys slinging excrement while being horrified when you remember that a major party is going to actually nominate one of them as President.
30.
Benw
@Mnemosyne: but if we replace Jackson and Grant there will be an *enormous* body of rap lyrics that make no sense. Why do you hate rap and black people? Just askin. :)
Mayhaps the coveted* Jar Jar Binks suit at the Star Wars attraction.
*sarcasm wholly intended
32.
Peale
@Mnemosyne: Or they’ll have joint portraits of Hamilton and Burr – together at last! (I mean seriously, Burr gets the best big production numbers. He should get a bill.)
Alexander wasn’t even born on American soil. What’s the dude doing on our money?
/RWNJ blathering point
;)
34.
Bill E Pilgrim
@Peale: I’ll have to see that show, but from what I’ve heard it’s the same terrible lazy common wisdom about Burr as always. Anyone remotely curious should read this book, it’s a great book in addition to one that makes you realize everything you ever heard about Aaron Burr was written by his enemies. It made me realize that it’s basically the equivalent of “Al Gore claimed that he singlehandely invented the Internet” becoming all people in the future think they know about Gore.
35.
The Gray Adder
I can’t wait for Colbert’s take on it. LOL!
36.
Peale
@NotMax: He was a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in a forgotten spot in the Caribbean
There is no limit. Winning is everything, and the Republicans will tolerate anything from Trump as long as he has a plausible chance of winning. A few of them may turn on him if he attacks them personally, but they aren’t going to do anything about him as long as his attacks are directed away from them.
39.
OzarkHillbilly
@Eric S.: He takes advice from the voices in his head.
40.
Susan K of the tech support
How to respond to all the Obstruction? I was thinking that an organized campaign of “Yes, McConnell, I accept your resignation” might be good.
Call his office and say that you accept his resignation.
Contact KY press offices to say that you’re saying “I accept McConnell’s resignation.”
What would it be like if there was a huge chorus of people who did that, in overwhelming numbers?
A good idea? Thoughts on how to make this better?
41.
burnspbesq
Scott is term-limited out in 2018. Wouldn’t surprise me to see Rubio make a run for Guv.
Naw — stand back and watch the game play out. I think that a fair amount will be behind the scenes, but Obama has the traction and the game and I expect you will see evidence of both as it plays out. I have no idea what he will do, but I have watched him turn his opponents into crazy people for a while now, so I am just gonna grab a comfortable seat and get ready for the play…
You are probably right — at least from what we observe about Trump right this minute. I still think he is truly crazy and might demonstrate that in escalating ways that even the Rs have trouble ignoring. We will see how much he can and will control himself. This is a long long race and this guy is tired NOW… maybe he has incredible endurance and luck…. I have my doubts.
44.
? Martin
@burnspbesq: I’d say Rubio doesn’t stand a chance but then Florida elected Scott, so I guess Rubio really just needs to up his malicious jackhole quotient and he’s a lock.
@Elie:
The problem is that the Republicans have let him get to the point where he’s allowed to threaten his own party with violence if they don’t go along. Admittedly, it’s a slightly oblique, deniable threat- he can always claim that he was just making a warning about things out of his personal control- but that’s what he’s doing. I’m worried that they’re so scared of Trump that they’re unwilling to stand up to him, and they’ll only get more and more intimidated as he continues to get more outrageous. IOW, they’re already past the point of no return.
46.
Peale
@Elie: I honestly don’t think he’s going to “tone it down”. His definition of toning it down isn’t the same as we think. The whole point of this election is to show that the far right nonsense that the Republicans have been running on in mid-terms when they know Democrats aren’t likely to show up will also win the general. Democrats have been crushed in mid terms twice in a row on immigration, repealing healthcare, allowing muslims in the country and guns everywhere you want them. The only “moderate” position he has is for ending planned parenthood. I don’t think he’s going to be able to change his tone. The point of mocking the cuckersvatives is to say that all that sissy nice PC talk doesn’t win elections for Republicans.
47.
japa21
@Elie: I think we will start to see a gentler Donald. He is smart (in a street smart sort of way) to realize he has this in the bag as long as he doesn’t do something really stupid.
I think he will start to pivot toward the general.
Listened to part of his speech last night. He didn’t get all bombastic, pointed out it wasn’t over, still a long way to go, but he was confident.
Of course, he may not even have the street smarts I credit him with having and will do something incredibly stupid that will have some of his supporters turning to Cruz.
I think we will start to see a gentler Donald. He is smart (in a street smart sort of way) to realize he has this in the bag as long as he doesn’t do something really stupid.
I’m not sure I buy that. He’s iffy to win the nomination outright, so he needs to keep up the outrageousness both to win as many delegates as possible and to intimidate Republican leadership into not rigging the convention against him. Plus he’s going to have a hard time walking back a lot of the crazy stuff he’s already said without alienating his dedicated followers.
Last night, PBS NewsHour ran a story on the Tilly family of Fayetteville, North Carolina. The Tillys do not have a history of being active in politics, but various members of the family—both old and young—are being motivated to vote or work for a campaign for the first time by Donald Trump.
If you can put aside the fact that the Tillys are rallying behind Trump, this is a small but almost heartwarming story of a family choosing to engage with democracy. That’s also if you can put aside the fact that Grace, one of the central characters in the story, has large white power tattoos on each of her hands.
Above, you see Grace phone banking for Donald Trump, with the Celtic Cross tattoo on her right hand. Despite the tattoo being in plain view of PBS’ cameras, the story never acknowledges that it is interviewing a walking white power billboard.
I think we will start to see a gentler Donald. He is smart (in a street smart sort of way) to realize he has this in the bag as long as he doesn’t do something really stupid…he may not even have the street smarts I credit him with having and will do something incredibly stupid that will have some of his supporters turning to Cruz.
I don’t think we’ll see “gentler” Donald until the Establishment gives up (which at this point, would mean Kaisch dropping out and some significant Rs endorsing Trump).
And considering Kaisch has said he’s in it ’til Cleveland, knowing full well he can’t win unless there’s a contested convention, it seems pretty likely the Rs are gonna keep having it out.
Trump doesn’t want to have to put Cruz on the ticket in order to put himself over the top…Cruz knows full well he is likely to show up in Cleveland with enough delegates to be the deciding factor for Trump OR Kaisch. Ugh. Cruz can continue to be the Conservative Purity Pony (see his stupid remarks today about Garland’s nom?) and hope to be the kingmaker in Cleveland. Double ugh.
54.
Peale
@Germy Shoemangler: Yeah. Oh to be back in high school in the 80s surrounded by my classmates getting their Ollie North haircuts and discussing how the Democrats were doomed because Donald Trump would someday run for president and the Dems had no one even close to that kind of success. I think the core Trump voter is a 45 year old white male who missed the whole “cool” part of being GenX.
In 1980 I was working in a large corporation that was emboldened by Reagan to start treating their employees like shit. Over the decades I’ve worked many jobs, and that attitude from the bosses has endured.
Ahhh — you are right that he will try to do that. But he is old (almost 70), tired and out of shape. We aint even half way through this thing. His opponent (probably Hillary and her surrogates), will be putting him on the defensive all the time and from many different directions. We’ll see if he can hang. Historically he has been extremely thin skinned and bizarre about his sense of entitlement. His enemies, which may include some Repubs he has dissed during this process, will not hesitate to apply the stick to his ass — even if they will own no fingerprints.
57.
gvg
it’s possible Trump is not insane, just “raised” badly. He has been rich all his life and for decades has had a lot of people treating him to well when he misbehaves. In a spoiled child sort of way he may genuinely not know better, sort of like some star athletes. that makes him hard to predict for the rest of us. It also means he should at some point hit some landmine he doesn’t understand and lose supporters. I sort of think his supporters are often the type that is going to get bored eventually and wander off. If he does try and pivot to the general, that is a possible boredom point.
I have been aware of him for decades and even as a middle school kid thought he had awful taste. If he was really smart and observant, he could have learned taste by now, but he isn’t. Its amazing but he still seems to be the same as he was. Vulgar.
I think it could be more subtle than you explain (though I see your point). For the observant, it will be very clear what has happened and I think that their pointing out the obvious may not be as necessary as you think… Of course it would be satisfying for us to have NPR say, “and this is a white racist for Trump phone banking”. But they purposely edited the film to show all you saw and in a way you could not miss. I have my problems with NPR so as I said, I can see your point here — just not feeling it as strongly in this instance.
Nope — he is pretty unstable. Narcissists are not considered formally “crazy” anymore by the Psychiatric Association. That said, certain character issues — the need for constant approval and discounting of the opinion or thoughts of others, do set him up for certain experiences. Add to that his general physical state — his age, relative lack of fitness in prep for this marathon and his stated inability to sleep — deepen his risk over time of actually having some psychologically unstable behaviors — like rage (which we have already seen numerous times) and escalating threats (already seen). He may yet come up with even more radical statements and threats — which I think are likely more than unlikely. Yes, he will occasionally try to be more mellow, but the scale and frequency of the stuff coming at him will make it hard for a person with very weak internal governors, to compensate adequately. Of course, he might be very lucky, as he has been to date. I would not count on it however.
@dedc79:
It’s well past time to zero out the remaining federal funding for PBS and NPR. They already brag/complain that government funding is only a tiny share of their revenue, so it shouldn’t hurt too much to stop giving them that last few percent. The advantage of doing so is that it will remove the threat the Republicans hold over their head every budget time.
64.
dedc79
@Elie: Certainly many of the the family’s comments suggest that they are motivated by racism, but most people (me included) would not recognize those white power symbols. They should’ve let viewers know what the symbols stand for, asked the woman to explain why she has them, and broadcast her answer, however vile.
Actually, the show is quite fair to Burr (and it certainly doesn’t whitewash Hamilton’s flaws). Both Jefferson and Washington distrusted Burr, so there was bipartisan support for people thinking he might be unscrupulous. He wasn’t as bad as the worst portrayals, but he was not a saint by any stretch of the imagination.
For one example from the show (and not really a spoiler), in the duel number, Burr’s sung line before pulling the trigger is, “This man will not make an orphan of my daughter!”
68.
ThresherK
@Mnemosyne: One boffo re-staging of 1776 and we’ll have the rest of the current portraits for a long time.
Can’t we reissue the 10,000 without Salmon P. Chase? That would be a good place for the right portrait.
Steeplejack
Rubio would be perfect as DiNozzo’s smarmy younger brother if NCIS needs to punch up the ratings. Or evil twin. That works too.
Dork
The guy’s in his mid 40s, has ~10 months left on a cush gig, but then he’s outtie and not good with money, from all accounts. IOWs, he’s gunna need a job for another ~20 years. What jobs require a weasel? What about a lying weasel? Mayor of Miami Beach? Paperboy?
gogol's wife
Great delivery.
A Ghost To Most
@Steeplejack:
Weatherly is leaving the show; maybe lil Marco can replace him.
peach flavored shampoo
@Dork: I’m convinced that just before he announced he wouldn’t also run for Senate, he was given a promise of a $600K/yr consulting gig with some K Street lobbyist group. No way he simply jettisons his best paying job to date without knowing he’s trading it in for something even easier and more lucrative.
JPL
That was so cute. Someday he’ll wake and realize that the electorate didn’t like him. God can only do so much.
Hal
Has Rubio done anything in his adult life in the private sector? I’m sure he’ll more than make out well with some cushy job, but he’s really going to have to rely on the kindness of big money donors and former colleagues for the rest of his life. He does get a pension as a former senator also, correct? Not bad.
Elie
What a hoot that clip was… I gotta check out this guy on other stuff… very funny — sharp wit too…
Benw
Maybe Cole will sling some pity $ Marco’s way by paying him to do the next site redesign.
Steve in the ATL
@Hal:
drug mule, rent boy,…
jl
Wilmore cracked some time ago that Trump is the kind of person who believes something is true just because he just heard himself say it. Below is some more evidence that the Wilmore crack is really a true fact.
Trump Reveals His Foreign Policy Adviser: ‘I’m Speaking With Myself’ (VIDEO)
TPM blog
“I’m speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I said a lot of things,” Trump replied.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-consults-himself-foreign-policy
WereBear
Back when I read the Great Orange Satan, there was an article about how the end of the W administration yanked the jobs away from all the R flunkies who had journeyed from their hometowns to hobnob in DC.
Now they had to go back.
Didn’t feel sorry for them. Feel even less sorry for Rubio.
dedc79
I think Frenchy’s job prospects were far better than Rubio’s
WereBear
@jl: Sigh. That sounds like the Onion but I know it is not…
Mike in NC
Lil Marco can always get a job at Disneyworld Orlando. Maybe dress him up as one of the Seven Dwarves?
Elie
@jl:
Lord have mercy on us… You.Just.Cant.Make.This.Shit.Up!
This man must not be allowed to get anywhere near the White House — not even for a visit…
There is something cognitively wrong with this guy….
Mike R
Dopey would work, or perhaps a new character maybe Thirsty.
Elie
Seriously, I am very concerned that Trump has no psychological “governors”. He has no limits and I do not doubt for a minute that he would do anything, say anything, incite anything to prevail. I wonder if the administration is starting to model some security vignettes that might arise with this joker. I am hoping that all people of good will will eventually work together to defeat this thing…..
trollhattan
@Dork:
Pretty sure Eric Cantor can hook a brother up. There’s a club, a secret handshake, a path and everything. Li’l Marco can be some investment firm’s bauble.
Calouste
@Steve in the ATL: Was going to say, there are rumors that Rubio has done something in his adult life in the private sector, with the emphasis on adult and private.
Elie
Its interesting, the approach by the Republicans and largely the MSM to deal with the excesses of Trump’s statements and incitements have been more or less to ignore them or try to minimize them. Sure there have been some guarded statements by some R leaders to oppose his statements, but they have mostly been understated statements — the kid glove approach. As time goes on, when you are dealing with a psychologically aggressive and unstable personality, if you do not set firm limits, they keep pushing forward. Where is the limit here? To me, his threats to incite riots if he doesn’t get the R nomination do not yet name a target, but I could see him making personal threats (he HAS made veiled threats against Bernie). I am not convinced that treating this guy with kid gloves is the best thing, though I am sure people are afraid of angering his followers and stimulating them to “defend” him. That said, there needs to be a trip wire that allows the system to let him and his followers to know ” this is now enough”. Is there a trip wire? Will he just keep moving the bar up and up?
PurpleGirl
I was laughing out loud at that video clip…. GOP Drop Out… Brilliant. I then played the one about Carly Fiorina. Also LOL good. I have to check out some of Randy Rainbows other work.
Mnemosyne
So it’s possible that the Treasury is backing off their plan to take Alexander Hamilton off the $10 now that he’s famous again:
I have no idea what the plan is, but since Jackson killed the national bank and was a genocidal asshole to boot, it makes more sense to replace him instead. Just sayin’.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@srv: You always deliver the goods. That’s some of the most unhinged shit I’ve ever read in my life.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@Elie: Sure there is. The media could yank their coverage of him. Had they done this six months ago we wouldn’t be talking about him. At all.
They could still do it now.
What do you think the odds of that actually happening are?
gogol's wife
@Mnemosyne:
Hamilton Obsession girls meeting the cast, Diggs at 17:00 or so.
Marc
@CONGRATULATIONS!: Yup. Good God, there really are people who manage the daily business of life who are utterly convinced that Obama is a Muslim. Presumably a gay atheist communist Sharia Law Muslim.
Eric S.
@jl: I saw the Trump foreign policy quote earlier today. I couldn’t help laughing out loud. I think to keep myself from crying. This moron is going to be the GOP presidential nominee.
Bill E Pilgrim
Ah, the Rubio slippers. Such memories this campaign season has created already, as we savor the comedy while wishing the whole thing had never happened. It’s like being vaguely amused by monkeys slinging excrement while being horrified when you remember that a major party is going to actually nominate one of them as President.
Benw
@Mnemosyne: but if we replace Jackson and Grant there will be an *enormous* body of rap lyrics that make no sense. Why do you hate rap and black people? Just askin. :)
NotMax
@Mike in NC
Mayhaps the coveted* Jar Jar Binks suit at the Star Wars attraction.
*sarcasm wholly intended
Peale
@Mnemosyne: Or they’ll have joint portraits of Hamilton and Burr – together at last! (I mean seriously, Burr gets the best big production numbers. He should get a bill.)
NotMax
@Mnemosyne
Alexander wasn’t even born on American soil. What’s the dude doing on our money?
/RWNJ blathering point
;)
Bill E Pilgrim
@Peale: I’ll have to see that show, but from what I’ve heard it’s the same terrible lazy common wisdom about Burr as always. Anyone remotely curious should read this book, it’s a great book in addition to one that makes you realize everything you ever heard about Aaron Burr was written by his enemies. It made me realize that it’s basically the equivalent of “Al Gore claimed that he singlehandely invented the Internet” becoming all people in the future think they know about Gore.
The Gray Adder
I can’t wait for Colbert’s take on it. LOL!
Peale
@NotMax: He was a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in a forgotten spot in the Caribbean
Mike J
New White House twitter account, @scotusnom
Roger Moore
@Elie:
There is no limit. Winning is everything, and the Republicans will tolerate anything from Trump as long as he has a plausible chance of winning. A few of them may turn on him if he attacks them personally, but they aren’t going to do anything about him as long as his attacks are directed away from them.
OzarkHillbilly
@Eric S.: He takes advice from the voices in his head.
Susan K of the tech support
How to respond to all the Obstruction? I was thinking that an organized campaign of “Yes, McConnell, I accept your resignation” might be good.
Call his office and say that you accept his resignation.
Contact KY press offices to say that you’re saying “I accept McConnell’s resignation.”
What would it be like if there was a huge chorus of people who did that, in overwhelming numbers?
A good idea? Thoughts on how to make this better?
burnspbesq
Scott is term-limited out in 2018. Wouldn’t surprise me to see Rubio make a run for Guv.
Elie
@Susan K of the tech support:
Naw — stand back and watch the game play out. I think that a fair amount will be behind the scenes, but Obama has the traction and the game and I expect you will see evidence of both as it plays out. I have no idea what he will do, but I have watched him turn his opponents into crazy people for a while now, so I am just gonna grab a comfortable seat and get ready for the play…
Elie
@Roger Moore:
You are probably right — at least from what we observe about Trump right this minute. I still think he is truly crazy and might demonstrate that in escalating ways that even the Rs have trouble ignoring. We will see how much he can and will control himself. This is a long long race and this guy is tired NOW… maybe he has incredible endurance and luck…. I have my doubts.
? Martin
@burnspbesq: I’d say Rubio doesn’t stand a chance but then Florida elected Scott, so I guess Rubio really just needs to up his malicious jackhole quotient and he’s a lock.
Roger Moore
@Elie:
The problem is that the Republicans have let him get to the point where he’s allowed to threaten his own party with violence if they don’t go along. Admittedly, it’s a slightly oblique, deniable threat- he can always claim that he was just making a warning about things out of his personal control- but that’s what he’s doing. I’m worried that they’re so scared of Trump that they’re unwilling to stand up to him, and they’ll only get more and more intimidated as he continues to get more outrageous. IOW, they’re already past the point of no return.
Peale
@Elie: I honestly don’t think he’s going to “tone it down”. His definition of toning it down isn’t the same as we think. The whole point of this election is to show that the far right nonsense that the Republicans have been running on in mid-terms when they know Democrats aren’t likely to show up will also win the general. Democrats have been crushed in mid terms twice in a row on immigration, repealing healthcare, allowing muslims in the country and guns everywhere you want them. The only “moderate” position he has is for ending planned parenthood. I don’t think he’s going to be able to change his tone. The point of mocking the cuckersvatives is to say that all that sissy nice PC talk doesn’t win elections for Republicans.
japa21
@Elie: I think we will start to see a gentler Donald. He is smart (in a street smart sort of way) to realize he has this in the bag as long as he doesn’t do something really stupid.
I think he will start to pivot toward the general.
Listened to part of his speech last night. He didn’t get all bombastic, pointed out it wasn’t over, still a long way to go, but he was confident.
Of course, he may not even have the street smarts I credit him with having and will do something incredibly stupid that will have some of his supporters turning to Cruz.
Germy Shoemangler
Okay, here’s a clip of Donald Trump in 1980 telling Rona Barett he won’t run for president:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5VEjF1uhYo
1980!
Origuy
@Peale:
He couldn’t help who his
motherfather was.Jeffro
@burnspbesq:
I don’t think Rubio’s up for being blown out again. My guess is he’ll pull a Cantor and just go pick up some sweet, sweet lobbying dough.
Roger Moore
@japa21:
I’m not sure I buy that. He’s iffy to win the nomination outright, so he needs to keep up the outrageousness both to win as many delegates as possible and to intimidate Republican leadership into not rigging the convention against him. Plus he’s going to have a hard time walking back a lot of the crazy stuff he’s already said without alienating his dedicated followers.
dedc79
The Public BS network has some explaining to do:
Jeffro
@japa21:
I don’t think we’ll see “gentler” Donald until the Establishment gives up (which at this point, would mean Kaisch dropping out and some significant Rs endorsing Trump).
And considering Kaisch has said he’s in it ’til Cleveland, knowing full well he can’t win unless there’s a contested convention, it seems pretty likely the Rs are gonna keep having it out.
Trump doesn’t want to have to put Cruz on the ticket in order to put himself over the top…Cruz knows full well he is likely to show up in Cleveland with enough delegates to be the deciding factor for Trump OR Kaisch. Ugh. Cruz can continue to be the Conservative Purity Pony (see his stupid remarks today about Garland’s nom?) and hope to be the kingmaker in Cleveland. Double ugh.
Peale
@Germy Shoemangler: Yeah. Oh to be back in high school in the 80s surrounded by my classmates getting their Ollie North haircuts and discussing how the Democrats were doomed because Donald Trump would someday run for president and the Dems had no one even close to that kind of success. I think the core Trump voter is a 45 year old white male who missed the whole “cool” part of being GenX.
Germy Shoemangler
@Peale: good times!
In 1980 I was working in a large corporation that was emboldened by Reagan to start treating their employees like shit. Over the decades I’ve worked many jobs, and that attitude from the bosses has endured.
Elie
@japa21:
Ahhh — you are right that he will try to do that. But he is old (almost 70), tired and out of shape. We aint even half way through this thing. His opponent (probably Hillary and her surrogates), will be putting him on the defensive all the time and from many different directions. We’ll see if he can hang. Historically he has been extremely thin skinned and bizarre about his sense of entitlement. His enemies, which may include some Repubs he has dissed during this process, will not hesitate to apply the stick to his ass — even if they will own no fingerprints.
gvg
it’s possible Trump is not insane, just “raised” badly. He has been rich all his life and for decades has had a lot of people treating him to well when he misbehaves. In a spoiled child sort of way he may genuinely not know better, sort of like some star athletes. that makes him hard to predict for the rest of us. It also means he should at some point hit some landmine he doesn’t understand and lose supporters. I sort of think his supporters are often the type that is going to get bored eventually and wander off. If he does try and pivot to the general, that is a possible boredom point.
I have been aware of him for decades and even as a middle school kid thought he had awful taste. If he was really smart and observant, he could have learned taste by now, but he isn’t. Its amazing but he still seems to be the same as he was. Vulgar.
Elie
@dedc79:
I think it could be more subtle than you explain (though I see your point). For the observant, it will be very clear what has happened and I think that their pointing out the obvious may not be as necessary as you think… Of course it would be satisfying for us to have NPR say, “and this is a white racist for Trump phone banking”. But they purposely edited the film to show all you saw and in a way you could not miss. I have my problems with NPR so as I said, I can see your point here — just not feeling it as strongly in this instance.
muddy
@gvg: And he paints his face like a trollop.
Elie
@gvg:
I am less interested in getting his supporters to abandon him than in getting his opponents (us) energized and ready to confuse and demoralize him.
Germy Shoemangler
@gvg: I was reading the Village Voice back in the 1970s and they made Trump sound like an absolute psycho.
Trump: Problem Child For President!
Elie
@gvg:
Nope — he is pretty unstable. Narcissists are not considered formally “crazy” anymore by the Psychiatric Association. That said, certain character issues — the need for constant approval and discounting of the opinion or thoughts of others, do set him up for certain experiences. Add to that his general physical state — his age, relative lack of fitness in prep for this marathon and his stated inability to sleep — deepen his risk over time of actually having some psychologically unstable behaviors — like rage (which we have already seen numerous times) and escalating threats (already seen). He may yet come up with even more radical statements and threats — which I think are likely more than unlikely. Yes, he will occasionally try to be more mellow, but the scale and frequency of the stuff coming at him will make it hard for a person with very weak internal governors, to compensate adequately. Of course, he might be very lucky, as he has been to date. I would not count on it however.
Roger Moore
@dedc79:
It’s well past time to zero out the remaining federal funding for PBS and NPR. They already brag/complain that government funding is only a tiny share of their revenue, so it shouldn’t hurt too much to stop giving them that last few percent. The advantage of doing so is that it will remove the threat the Republicans hold over their head every budget time.
dedc79
@Elie: Certainly many of the the family’s comments suggest that they are motivated by racism, but most people (me included) would not recognize those white power symbols. They should’ve let viewers know what the symbols stand for, asked the woman to explain why she has them, and broadcast her answer, however vile.
Elie
@dedc79:
You are right. They needed that final step.
dedc79
@Roger Moore: I agree.
Mnemosyne
@Bill E Pilgrim:
Actually, the show is quite fair to Burr (and it certainly doesn’t whitewash Hamilton’s flaws). Both Jefferson and Washington distrusted Burr, so there was bipartisan support for people thinking he might be unscrupulous. He wasn’t as bad as the worst portrayals, but he was not a saint by any stretch of the imagination.
For one example from the show (and not really a spoiler), in the duel number, Burr’s sung line before pulling the trigger is, “This man will not make an orphan of my daughter!”
ThresherK
@Mnemosyne: One boffo re-staging of 1776 and we’ll have the rest of the current portraits for a long time.
Can’t we reissue the 10,000 without Salmon P. Chase? That would be a good place for the right portrait.
Mnemosyne
@ThresherK:
I was joking the other day that LMM couldn’t include Franklin in his show because he knew no one would be able to outplay Howard DaSilva in the role.
“Not everyone is from Boston, John.”
dantanna
“Those are cute, do they come in men’s?”
L my FAO.
dantanna
That’s gonna leave a mark-o!
[Note: Marco Rubio’s wife, Jeanette Desdoubes, was a Miami Dolphins cheerleader]