Watching the GOP steal the nomination from Trump in slow motion to give it to equally vile Ted Cruz may be my favorite show of this season.
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) April 9, 2016
From the NYTimes, “Turbulent Race Could Mean Cash Crunch for Republican National Committee”:
Confronted with a prolonged presidential nomination fight and two leading candidates whom donors are uneasy about, the Republican National Committee could be contending with a cash crunch that limits its ability to pour resources into battleground states…
The R.N.C. reported having just over $15 million in the bank at the end of February. But at the close of the last financial reporting period about $4.5 million of that money was restricted to costs such as payments for its headquarters and legal affairs. In 2008, the party had over $21 million on hand at the same point in the race, and more than $23 million in 2012.
The money worries come as many high-level party strategists in Washington and swing states are beginning to worry that the R.N.C. will be unable to fully fund what are called “victory programs,” the money sent to the most competitive states for organizing and get-out-the-vote efforts.
Hard-fought presidential states like Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania also have Republican-held Senate seats up for grabs this year, and the results may determine who controls the Senate…
Mr. Spicer confirmed that the R.N.C. is in discussions with all three Republican presidential campaigns about joint fundraising agreements, as reported by the Washington Post. But Senator Ted Cruz and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, candidates facing longer odds, may have little incentive to raise funds for the party. And Donald J. Trump has no major fundraising network to turn to, and will have to build from scratch…
Who would ever have suspected that an exhaustively winnowed trio of IGMFY narcissists would be less than interested in providing support to lesser members of “their” party? Or that the GOP donor class, as every individual refines their very special demands, would fail to coalesce around a single candidate?
And if that isn’t enough enjoyment for a Sunday evening, Tim Mak at the Daily Beast reports on “The Secret Movement to Draft General James Mattis for President”:
An anonymous group of conservative billionaires is ready to place their bets on a man dubbed “Mad Dog,” hoping to draft him into the presidential race to confront Donald Trump.
Think of it as a Plan B should Trump be nominated by the Republican Party in Cleveland: swing behind retired U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis and press him into service yet again as a third-party candidate…
“Everyone is hoping that Ted Cruz pulls it out, but I think a great deal of Republicans would rally behind an American hero if the choice is between Mattis and Trump,” said John Noonan, a former Jeb Bush aide now involved in the project to draft Mattis…
The strategy would not be for Mattis to win, at least at first—the operatives behind this potential bid would only be seeking to deny Trump and Clinton the 270 electoral votes necessary to win the general election outright…
***********
Apart from checking the popcorn stocks, what’s on the agenda as we wrap up the weekend?
raven
If it weren’t for the hole’s-in-one this might be a boring Sunday at the Masters.
redshirt
@raven: Off another ball? Crazy.
I want to take that shot off 16.
Phylllis
@raven: If Spieth holes 16 they’ll probably have to mass-medicate the crowd.
Yutsano
AAAAAAAAND STOMP!
NotMax
Paging Gen. Scott. General James Mattoon Scott, please pick up the red, white and blue courtesy phone…
:)
david10
JOHN NOONAN? when did Peg become a dragster?
Wow, wow, wow, replace the candidates everybody hates with someone no ones heard of-but will hate once they get to know him.
raven
@redshirt: Little blurry but this is a “skip” shot on 16 during the practice round.
Prescott Cactus
@ Yutsono
AAAAAAAAND STOMP!
Feel the Cole.
12 minutes
Mike J
Will the RNC fund downticket races? We’ll see.
Major Major Major Major
Bernie stepped in it. “A lot of that came from the south,” he said when asked about Clinton’s delegate lead http://www.rawstory.com/2016/04/bernie-sanders-dismisses-clinton-lead-a-lot-of-that-came-from-the-south/
Mike J
@Major Major Major Major: Yeah, he’s not a fan of the 50 state strategy, is he?
D58826
from Huffington
Way to go Bernie. Why not just endorse the GOP candidate, whomever it might be.
Anya
@Major Major Major Major: This makes me really angry. Are democratic voters in the south less worthy? Do we not want to build a voting block in the south? These voters also vote for congress and local and state? How can he not see their potential as voters? And does he not need them for the popular vote? What is wrong with this man? He’s just saying the same shit his supporters say.
raven
@Anya: Not if you read the jackasses that post here.
raven
@Phylllis: Well, no worries about that!
LAO
@raven: just got a little more interesting.
D58826
@Major Major Major Major: Hmmm. Fla/Va. are southern states and essential to winning in November. And N. Carolina is not out of the question. So that part of his analysis in bunk. But he also just wrote off millions of democrats, many of them African American, whose votes in down ballot contests will be very important.
Has he lost his mind? Or is it if ‘I can’t win the nomination I’m going to see that Hillary doesn’t win in November’? Maybe I’m reading more into it than there is but it seems like the kind or scorched earth tactics that you use in the general against the other party not the primaries against people who you want to come around and vote for you in November.
raven
@LAO: Let’s go surfin now, eveyrbody’s learnin how!
raven
That’s old business.
redshirt
Speith is melting down!
Mike J
LAO
@raven: I feel for the kid. Total meltdown.
ETA: redshirt beat me to it!
D58826
@raven: Not part of the revolution??????:-)
Seriously he is making it hard to say I’ll vote for him in the fall. He is behaving like a 6 year old having a melt down
PurpleGirl
My complex is starting an upgrade of our electric generators; tonight they are turning off the power to all 7 buildings at midnight for 4 hours. I’m not looking forward to this at all. I think I still have some D-cell batteries so I should should have the CD player in the bedroom. I should have checked the heavy duty flashlight sooner too. We’ll see how it goes.
raven
@redshirt: And this is why we watch even when he has a 5 stroke lead .
D58826
@Mike J: None of which will contribute one electoral vote to the revolution in November
raven
@LAO: Maybe he’ll stop screwing around with every putt.
redshirt
@raven: Yeah, 5 shot lead sounds like a lot, but it can disappear on one hole.
rikyrah
I’m still at the point where I can’t remotely believe that if Trump gets the most delegates and votes – by following the rules that they set up..
that they will go in, change the rules, and give it to the guy who came in SECOND?
And nobody thinks that there will be ramifications for that?
rikyrah
as for the General….
um, how is he supposed to win states?
really?
Roger Moore
@Anya:
A lot of those voters only count for 3/5th of a vote, if you get my drift. Besides, anyone who can’t see how awesome Bernie is obviously doesn’t deserve respect.
Seriously, though, why is it that Hillary’s votes in Southern states- including some like Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida that have actually given their electoral votes to a Democrat within recent memory- are suspect, while Bernie’s wins in Western states like Wyoming, Idaho, and Kansas that have been blood red for a long time are somehow proof that he’s the bee’s knees?
NotMax
@PurpleGirl
One nice thing about NYC is it’s easy to find relatively inexpensive boxes of Sabbath candles at most any supermarket.
WaterGirl
@PurpleGirl: You could always take a nap. :-)
smith
@Roger Moore:
FTFY
Miss Bianca
Finally caught some of the Master’s on the teevee machine at one of my favorite taverns post-ride. Who’s the guy who got the hole-in-one? Seth something? Didn’t recognize any of the players’ names, made me realize how much my golf knowledge (pitiful as it ever was) depended on my dad’s habit of watching all the games on TV.
This evening’s plans include binge-read-finishing “The Warrior’s Apprentice” by Lois McMaster Bujold, who’s like crack to me now (thanks, BJers!), and trying to get some of my own scribbling accomplished.
raven
@Miss Bianca: There have been THREE today.
“History was made at the Masters on Sunday as three players hit holes-in-one at the 16th hole at Augusta.
Shane Lowry and Davis Love III ended their Masters week on a high note as both hit aces at the par-three 16th on Sunday, before Louis Oosthuizen added a fortunate third. It is the first time in Masters history that the 16th hole has been aced three times in a single round.”
Germy
A military coup?
LAO
@raven: I wasn’t rooting for him but it’s still hard to watch. Like that French golfer at the British open.
raven
@LAO: He did a pretty funny commercial about that a few years back. Jean Van De Velde
D58826
@smith: An other lily white state that Bernie won is Vermont. I’m not suggesting that he is in any way shape or form a racist but has he ever had to reach out to African American voters in his Vermont elections. If I rememeber he blew off BLM early in the campaign.
PsiFighter37
@Major Major Major Major: Not surprising. Arguing on BMT with folks who are trying to write off the black vote in the South.
Seems like generally well-off white progressives are just as capable of being racist as poor white conservatives. Who coulda thunk it?
Miss Bianca
@raven: Shane Lowry! That was it.
Wait, what…*three*? That sounds like a God joke waiting to happen…
raven
@Miss Bianca: And there were 9 at the par three tourney this week. Beat the record by 4.
eclare
@Major Major Major Major: Whoa! Memphis here, wow. Glad I voted HRC. And I vote every chance I get, not just prez…looking at you, WI with your court.
WaterGirl
@Major Major Major Major: @eclare: I simply do not understand why anyone running for office would make comments that would offend voters in particular geographical areas.
I was pissed in 2008 when Clinton acted like the caucuses shouldn’t count. Seriously, what part of “you need all the votes you can get, don’t poke groups of voters with a stick do these guys not understand?
Miss Bianca
@raven: Are they becoming more common? Or is this something of a fluke? (asking for my dad) ; )
raven
@Miss Bianca: Fluke.
lollipopguild
@<a href="#[email protected]Germy: Seven days in May-1964 Burt Lancaster,Kirk Douglas.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@raven: Might the fluke have anything to do with pin placement? Asked by the person who is not a golfer, of course.
Mike J
@efgoldman: It was a play on this.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@D58826: I agree there’s nothing racist about Sanders, but his campaign– I guess Himself, Devine, Weaver, who know who else– seems to be in a closed bubble of ideological self-righteousness with no one to tell them how they might sound to people who aren’t in the bubble. Shades of the Clinton camp in ’08
@efgoldman: Wasn’t it Norquist who said in 2012, it doesn’t matter if Willard is really a squish, we just need a pen.?
raven
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Well, there have been many hole’s in one on various courses and holes. The one’s today were all on 16 but the 9 were on the par three course.
FlipYrWhig
@Anya:
He has a medical condition. It’s called “being a dick.”
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Miss Bianca: Ya had to note the tavern stop was post-ride, didn’t you? I hope it was a lovely one. Our village had a one stop recycling day today and the I had some boxes for the fabric truck usable and scrap. I managed not to cry when I put 4 never worn show shirts (+ xx worn) in the box with gently used clothing. And a bunch of rub rags and polos that saw better days in the 90s in the scrap box. ::sniff::
Were you looking for good inexpensive wine? Alias has a 2013 Merlot that got a 93 from Wine Spectator. Which is a hell of a rating for a screwtop bottle of wine. It’s quite good and $9.99 at our little neighborhood wine/beer shop. They sell lots of it.
Miss Bianca
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
(waving). Just to let you know I finally met the “free-to-a-good-home” Andalusian cross today. Didn’t ride him, but spent quite a bit of time priddying him up. So far he seems a very quiet, well-behaved gentleman, who needs to fill out and muscle up quite a bit
ETA: Ha-ha, our posts crossed like *that*! Yes, post-ride was a bit of a lure cast out, I’m afraid. The fellow I rode today is a cousin or nephew or something to California Chrome – gorgeous as all get-out, but *fussy*. He’s going to take a bit of getting used to! (Ach, shirts going begging! Noooo!)
I’m always looking for a good cheap wine. : )
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@FlipYrWhig: Yes, there is that, too, also.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I think twitter is mostly just a means of providing links and snark, when it’s not a rage echo chamber, but I think Jamelle Bouie puts it to better use than most
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@raven: The cluster at 16 is what made me suspect pin placement, which led to speculation on my part that some adjustments might be made on lots of courses to increase the interest from the less technical appreciation for the players’ skill crowd.
@Miss Bianca: I hope he finds a great home where he can fill out and muscle up – quiet well-behaved gentlemen are not overstocked most places. My brain still can’t get around what his gaits would be given the cross.
General Petraeus
What am I, chopped liver?
Miss Bianca
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
IKR? I’m hoping to get to ride him myself – I confess I’m wildly curious to know if he’s actually gaited at all, and if so, what prevails!
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Miss Bianca: I love the TBs, and always will, but *fussy* is often the attitude on a good day, LOL. Speaking of Cali Chrome, I’m late to the party, but I was glad to hear Victor won the $10M Dubai Stakes with him last month.
On request, I can tell my racing prediction stories – I don’t want to bore the golf/
slowball/football fans with that kind of stuff.NR
@rikyrah: Fortunately for the Republicans, there is a candidate running who will unify the GOP after it blows up at the convention: Hillary Clinton.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@NotMax: James Mattoon Scott was a very handsome, highly charismatic individual. Mattis is a boring version of General Buck Turgidson.
Miss Bianca
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Hey I think sportsball of all varieties is fair play here. I glaze over on the Big Ten/College Basketball stuff, so why *not* cause a little eye-glazing of our own?
(is it cool to bring up here that my mother used to say, regarding such personal preferences, “that’s what makes horse races”?)
Chyron HR
@NR:
Life’s rough, kid.
PurpleGirl
@NotMax: I have lots of candles around the apartment — votives, large, chucky tower candles, etc.
@WaterGirl: Yes, I will be trying to take a nap.
NR
@Chyron HR:
My guess is genetics.
dedc79
Alternative post title – Mad Dog and Glory
elftx
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
O do tell them. I still have a tee shirt from Sportsman Park w War Emblem when he won the Ill Derby in 2002. Adored that horse even though I knew in my heart he could not take the Triple Crown.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Miss Bianca: I watched the 2004 Belmont at the NC fairgrounds, in a roomful of strangers hoping to see history. Shortly before post time, man looked at me and said “we’re gonna see a Triple Crown!!” I quietly said, “I think it’s highly doubtful,” and I thought they wer going to run me out of the room with fists flying, as if I’d insulted them all. Many laughed at me – ” like she knows anything about horses or racing LOL.”
Once the race started, we all watched intently. Close to the wire, as you recall, Smarty Jones still held the lead and the first guy turned to ma and said “This is great – and you were wrong.” I shrugged.
Most of them looked at me “How did you know?” I told them honestly – I had an equal chance of being right or wrong. But the Belmont is a mile and a half, and the colt wasn’t bred for a mile and a half, and a mile and a half gallop isn’t a horse race – so that was why I thought he wouldn’t win. After the race the press kept badgering Stewie about what went wrong. At the end, someone asked something like “what do you think happened” and Stewie sort of shrugged and said “I think it was a mile and a half.”
Then last year I liked what I saw of the stunning short-tailed bay colt. The he got hurt but still got the 2 year old Eclipse. Then I was impressed by his early 3 yo old efforts and told friends to keep an eye on him. I kept saying that and somebody asked me why I was so impressed “When Wayne Lukas say “this is a special horse” and it’s not in his barn, you pay attention.”
After the Belmont people kept asking me why I’d been so hopeful and I had the same answer. mr Q. loved telling people “Bella said in April we were gonna see a Triple Crown from AP.” Of course what I’d actually said was “if there’s going to be another sweep, I think that beautiful bay colt with the mis-spelled name can do it.”
gwangung
@PsiFighter37:
Raises hand.
(So does almost every other POC in the room)
Chyron HR
@NR:
I don’t know how Sanders can be so far behind with people like you in his brain trust.
Cacti
@PsiFighter37:
Also raises hand.
The racism of Bernfeelers is the high brow, paternalistic, condescending type.
The racism of Trump fans is low brow, vulgar bigotry.
Miss Bianca
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Would you believe that last year was the only year in my life I’ve missed seeing the Triple Crown won? Affirmed, Seattle Slew…Secretariat…saw all of them but missed American Pharaoh (is that the right spelling or the wrong)? Thank Goddess for the wonder of Youtube and instant replay – not as exciting as seeing in real time, but still something.
ETA: Back in my intense horse-race-watching days, when I was a nipper, I was startled at the times when I would pick a horse who I “just knew would win” who subsequently did. Because I had *nothing* to base it on – no knowledge at all, just a feeling. That’s when I realized I would get in trouble betting! ; )
Shell
Pulls out what?
NR
@Chyron HR:
That’s pretty sad, but at least you’re honest about it.
NR
Ah, the ol’ “Everyone who disagrees with me is a racist” argument, right on schedule. BJ commenters are nothing if not predictable.
Cacti
@NR:
Are you a victim of reverse racism, little Bernfeeler?
NR
@Cacti: I just find your bullshit funny at this point, to be honest.
NR
@Cacti: Your feelings matter and you’re special.
Barbara
@Cacti: I would not call them racist. I would say that these are people who are used to being listened to and it is driving them insane that people they mostly agree with do not agree with them when it comes to something they care a lot about. It’s making them thoughtless and dismissive. Even mentioning “the South” is such a huge dog whistle.
Cacti
@Roger Moore:
The three reddest states in America by Cook PVI are Utah (R +22), Wyoming (R +22), and Idaho (R +18).
Cacti
@NR:
You should get a trophy just for showing up.
Cacti
@efgoldman:
Arithmetic is an establishment conspiracy.
Bernfeeling is what matters.
Now pay for my college tuition, dammit!
NR
@Cacti:
No, you matter, Cacti. Your feelings matter. Don’t ever let anyone tell you they don’t.
Cacti
@NR:
Your mother lied to you, kid. You’re not special. Not even special in your own way.
The reason you can’t find a high paying job isn’t because of any establishment. It’s because you suck.
NR
@Cacti:
But you are special, Cacti. You know it. Your mother knows it. The whole world knows it.
You’re special and your feelings matter.
hkedi [Kang T.Q.]
@Miss Bianca: Warrior’s apprentice is not even her best work. She was just finding her stride at that point. Memory/Komarr/A civil affair I think is the high point of the series. (so you have a lot of book to read that just. keep. getting. better… before you hit that point.)
She’s one of the very few authors I will immediately buy hardbacks when they come out.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@NR:
Isn’t there a kool aid drinking clap harder Bernfeeler drum circle you’re missing? You know, the one where they make the big puppets that hand waves away all those black votes that don’t count and the superdelegates that count and the Bernfeelers hate, now need?
NR
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Can you believe how racist Berniebros are? I mean, just the other day a Berniebro said “I’ll tell you another story about a place where black lives matter: Africa!” For fuck’s sake, how racist can you get?
Oh, my bad. It was Bill Clinton who said that! Whoops. I regret my error.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@NR:
LOL. Which is why Hillary has beaten Bernie like a rented mule with votes in the red states that don’t count. CLAP HARDER!
Cacti
@NR:
Nobody can.
How clueless and tone deaf would a person have to be to call black people in the south “confederates”, or to think that things like #MississippiBerning are cute and clever?
NR
@Cacti: Yes, some randos on Twitter are definitely comparable to a candidate’s spouse who is the former president of the United States.
Miss Bianca
@hkedi [Kang T.Q.]: I could hate her for being so good right out of the box (writer’s envy – it’s an ugly thing), but I’m too busy loving her. It’s been a long, long time since I just started gorging on one author’s books (and I’ve passed “Cordelia’s Honor” on to my friend who turned me on to Stephenson and Gibson).
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@NR:
Or to the candidate for president himself, who has dismissed and denigrated those voters twice, as recently as today. The fish rots from the head. #FeeltheBullshit
ETA: While St. Bernie is “meeting with the Pope”, will Jane have time to come up with their tax returns? Asking for a friend.
JMG
Why didn’t I ever get to play power with “conservative billionaires?” Sounds like another ripe grift in the making.
Major Major Major Major
Oh man, I do love a good dogpile.
NR, you’re being stupid. Stop it.
NR
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Yes, he denigrated them so much. I can feel the denigration from here.
Cacti
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Hillary is responsible for anything Bill says, just as Jane is responsible for Bernie’s taxes not being released.
I’m sensing a theme here.
Major Major Major Major
@Cacti: Bernie did say to ask her about them.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@NR:
You do know Bernie voted for the crime bill? Will he apologize first? Or are all you Bernfeelers waving your hands so fast that you think we can’t see his bullshit from here?
NR
@Cacti: Gotta love BJ. Bernie Sanders is responsible for anything and everything anyone who claims to support him says, but Hillary Clinton isn’t responsible for what her own husband says when he’s out there campaigning for her at her request. Makes perfect sense.
Major Major Major Major
@NR: If you love it here so much why don’t you leave?
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@NR:
Is Bernie Sanders responsible for anything he says? This is a simple yes or no question.
NR
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: It’s also a stupid question since no one has claimed he isn’t.
redshirt
@NR: When Bernie meets the Pope this will all be squared away.
gwangung
@Major Major Major Major: Nah, they can’t. NR is living for the persecution points.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@NR:
There are no stupid questions when it comes to Bernie – he’s an endless fount of stupidity, changing rationalizations, goal post moving, excuses, conspiracies, finger pointing, dismissiveness, scapegoating, delusional thinking and all around dumbfuckery that his idiot followers all swallow whole.
NR
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Wow. That was quite the little meltdown.
If you flip out this badly when you’re winning, I’m actually scared for anyone who happens to be around you when Hillary loses in November.
Cacti
@Major Major Major Major:
He also blames Hillary for anything that happened when Bill was in office.
Cat48
@NR:
I saw that live when he was talking “blacks n Africa” & he was yelling about getting the Aids medicine cheaper so more of them could live longer lives thru the Clinton Foundation Charity. Maybe he needs some Frank lessons on how to talk & deal with protestors in 2016. I sorta feel sorry for him bc he just wants to be Liked by everybody. There was an article right by the one u linked to that Bill went to six churches in Harlem today showing contrition for the way he misspoke. What a mess, poor Hillary.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@NR:
As long as Bernie hangs around successfully raising money from his delusional followers who believe that there’s a winged unicorn flight path forward, you’re going to need a 12 screen cineplex for your psychological need to project. I will be here to watch it and the other phony baloney “revolutionaries” struggle with reality. I’m going to need a bigger popcorn bowl.
What IS Bernie hiding in his taxes, by the way? That he’s one of the 1%? That would be fucking hilarious.
NR
@Cat48: To be clear, I don’t think Bill Clinton is a racist, and I don’t think Hillary Clinton is a racist by association.
I was just making a point about how selective BJ’s outrage is when it comes to racism. People here will gleefully use racist comments from anonymous Twitter users as a cudgel with which to beat the vile and evil Bernie Sanders, but when Bill Clinton says something that is, at best, racially insensitive, they’re all “Hillary’s not responsible for what her husband says when he’s campaigning for her at her request!” It’s blatant hypocrisy.
NR
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Given how agitated you are, you could use a bowl of something, alright.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@NR:
Please explain to all of us clueless BJers what Sanders meant when he said dismissively: “Well, she is getting more votes. A lot of that came from the South.” This is not from twitter, it’s from Bernie’s mouth.
Also, why do YOU think he won’t release his tax returns?
Cat48
@NR:
Well, technically she is not responsible, but we all know its going to happen bc he’s argumentative. He was the same way when he was president. He was usually talking to the Gop when it happened. He needs a minder who will handle the protestors & talk to them or something. Hillary shouldn’t have to deal with it right now, since she has to answer for his record & hers bc Bernie has attacked everything theyve ever done or will soon. Also, anything she did for Obama.
Jeffro
@raven: My dad, brother, and I were down there on Friday and wow is that a…wait for it, wait for it…special place.
Seriously, is “special” the word of the season in sports? I’m hearing it everywhere.
But Augusta was really cool, even for this non-golfer!
redshirt
@NR: Will Bernie release his tax history? And if he won’t, why not?