Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

I did not have telepathic declassification on my 2022 bingo card.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Come on, man.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2016 / Open Thread: The Yammering Yam Stands Alone

Open Thread: The Yammering Yam Stands Alone

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Reince has already deleted that tweet, but I’m sure its replacement will be just as risible.

Reader Interactions

224Comments

  3. 3.

    dmsilev

    For some primo schadenfreude, I can recommend the front page of RedState right now.

  5. 5.

    WarMunchkin

    @Trentrunner: Did it, though? Was this outcome ever in doubt?

    Seems like the story was set back in September and we’re just coloring in the lines after the fact.

  7. 7.

    James Hare

    I just wonder if Will/Krauthammer stick with their current stance or go #NeverClinton. Smart money has them falling in line.

  10. 10.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @lamh36:

    It’s almost like there was nothing to conservatism except mindless hatred of the black president.

  12. 12.

    rikyrah

    Wow. I didn’t think that he would take them all out. But, he did. 17 started, and they got the reality tv ? show barker.
    Never thought that he would win.

  14. 14.

    bemused

    @dmsilev:

    Pardon me for not knowing but is Redstate for or against Trump? It’s so confusing in wingnut world these days.

  20. 20.

    Mike J

    Managing editor of the Washington Examiner:

    Philip Klein ‏@philipaklein 11 minutes ago
    I have officially de-registered as a Republican.

    Followed by radio gasbag:

    Steve Deace ‏@SteveDeaceShow 10 minutes ago

    Right behind you

  23. 23.

    PsiFighter37

    Trump saying that he’ll make miners proud again. Someone tell the clown that if he wants to invest in a dying industry, he should put his money where his mouth is.

  24. 24.

    Matt McIrvin

    Sam Wang has been saying Trump was on a path to clinch it before the convention (contrary to a lot of excited news reports) for almost a month now. I’m kind of surprised that Cruz is packing it in now, but he realistically has had little chance even to pull a contested convention since before New York.

  28. 28.

    Rolling Along

    So sad to see somebody who has lost 67% of the GOP vote, who doesn’t advocate any meaningful entitlement reform, who demagogues on free trade and refuses to stand by Israel as he standard bearer of the Party of Reagan. I haven’t even heard one word from Trump on public employee unions or education reform, the only quote I can find from him is when he called public school teachers “fantastic people”. What has happened to our party?

  29. 29.

    dmsilev

    @Roger Moore: Well, they’ve at various times accused Obama both of being Muslim and being gay. I don’t think anyone has accused him of secretly being a woman nor of being Hispanic, so he hasn’t quite hit Wingnut Bingo.

  31. 31.

    Anoniminous

    @Matt McIrvin:

    His only shot was to deny Trump 1,237 and then hope for a miracle in Cleveland.

    I have no idea what Kasich thinks he is doing. Grifting along, perhaps.

  33. 33.

    kindness

    The Republicans used to be so much better about projecting a unified face. Might have something to do with the dignified manner of the new nominee.

  35. 35.

    Kathleen

    @Baud: Demanding Hillary produce proof of her gender at birth will be the new black. Maureen Dowd is sharpening her talons as we type.

  38. 38.

    Baud

    GOP chairman Reince Priebus is here as well. Glad to see that you feel you have earned a night off. Congratulations on all your success, the republican party, the nomination process. It’s all going great. Keep it up.

  39. 39.

    Poopyman

    @srv:

    Look at Ted and iCarly, they look like crushed souls.

    Souls? They don’t got no souls. They don’t need no souls ….

  40. 40.

    bemused

    @dmsilev:

    Oh, that will be hilarious to watch unfold…along with most Republicans! No doubt it won’t be long before they blame Obama and liberals in general.

  43. 43.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    Harold Cook ‏@HCookAustin 33s34 seconds ago

    Trump just complemented Ted Cruz, the guy who just this morning called Trump a pathological lying narcissist amoral philanderer.

  47. 47.

    Peter

    So what is surprising here? Cruz is hated by everyone. Who thought he ever had a chance?. It has always been Trump as the presumptive nominee. So what to do about a carnival barker who could have his hands on the nuclear football?

  48. 48.

    Rolling Along

    @dmsilev:

    Th funding situation is even sadder, Trump is an amateur who doesn’t understand the importance of paying campaign pros and Super PAC funding. He’s under the delusion he can continue to coast off of free media and a non existent ground game. If he doesn’t wise up and hire pros Hillary will crush him barring the #TakeItToTheHouse strategy coming to fruition.

  49. 49.

    PsiFighter37

    Trump makes a speech full of complete gibberish. Good God, my brain cells are dying.

  55. 55.

    dmsilev

    @Rolling Along: Don’t lose hope so soon. The electoral dynamism and raw sexual magnetism of John Kasich could still come to your rescue.

  58. 58.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    A Cat Named Bitches ‏@BitchestheCat 6m6 minutes ago

    Trump gives bigots an outlet to voice their hate, but making new voters, nah. Anyone he’s firing up already voted against Obama two times.

  63. 63.

    Alain the site fixer

    Literal tears of joy. Cruz would have been a demon as President. Now to continue listening to butt hurt on talk radio. Wing nut tears of rage and disappointment, intoxicate me to sleep. Bismallah

  67. 67.

    Anne Laurie

    @dr. luba:

    But has Kasich dropped out yet?

    Who?

    Oh, yeah — he’s still in, as of tonight. Suspect that Kay is hovering over her newsfeed, muttering c’mon ya bastid… c’mon, I wanna see ya quit…

  70. 70.

    Mike J

    Taegan Goddard ‏@politicalwire 15 minutes ago
    Trump: “We’re going to win bigly”

    My favorite Trump quote yet

    Sweet Meteor O’Death ‏@smod2016 15m15 minutes ago
    I’m going to impact bigly.

  71. 71.

    dmsilev

    I was talking at dinner with some colleagues last night and the topic of who Trump would pick for his VP came up. One person had a horrifyingly plausible suggestion: A one-month or six-week summer reality-TV series, winner gets the veep slot.

  75. 75.

    Mnemosyne

    Okay, kids.

    Game on. The Republicans have now cast aside even the thin veneer of “former governor” and gone balls-out white supremacist asshole who has never held elective office.

    Not only do I think we can win this, I think we can make it a landslide. A rout. A fucking massacre.

    Let’s go.

  76. 76.

    Sad_Dem

    So, America, are you going to express concern about other countries and the buffoons they elect any more?

  77. 77.

    Peale

    @Mike J:I wonder if they’ll pass over the Democrats and move directly to Jill Stein. Kind of like Ariana Huffington back in 1999-who I think became a liberal overnight so she could protest Al Gore from the left.

  79. 79.

    Adam L Silverman

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: Up to a point. Usually the white supremacists/white nationalists don’t vote. And with these terms I mean the real, hardcore ones not the guys that email pictures of the President around with a bone through his nose – hardcore/professional vs casual bigots. I don’t think this constituency is large enough to swing things, but their leadership, such as it is, has made it clear that they’re pushing everyone to vote this time for Trump as opposed to what they normally do, which is telling everyone to stay home and not vote.

  81. 81.

    Anne Laurie

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    I see Sanders has been declared the Democratic winner.

    If so, IIRC, that’ll net him +42 delegates… and HRC +41 delegates.

    Suspect the Media Village Idiots will be too busy hyperventilating over TROMP! to give him much time for tonight’s moral/e victory, though!

  83. 83.

    Peale

    @Sad_Dem: nah. Thankfully it’s the clowns other countries throw up from time to time that’s keeping my faith and patriotism going. Snooty Europeans ain’t gonna bring me down.

  85. 85.

    The Dangerman

    @Corner Stone:

    …Robert Palmer Presidential Campaign Video…

    Assuming it’s Hillary’s and about Trump…

    …might as well face it you’re addic….

    .

  88. 88.

    lamh36

    Nicole Wallace on MSNBNC saying exactly what I’ve been saying…Trump NEVER thought he’s get here.

    And that he was in it because he hates to lose…smh…and now here we are…smh

  89. 89.

    MomSense

    @dmsilev:

    Hey if those Brinks trucks are looking for somewhere to unload their unlimited cash, I would be willing to help.

  93. 93.

    catclub

    So, where is Trump fundraising for his national campaign?
    and b) Who is lining up to give to said efforts?

    I seem to remember that Romney had a slight advantage in 2012 when combined with SuperPacs, over Obama. This year?

  95. 95.

    Splitting Image

    Well, hats off to the people who predicted it would be Trump early on. I thought the money people running the party would be able to take him out, but apparently not. If their #2 choice had been less odious than Ted Cruz, they might have done it.

    Trump it is, then. I’ve been saying for years that Alf Landon deserves better than to be remembered as the person who won the fewest electoral votes in modern history. I think it’s high time that someone got fewer than 8 electoral votes and I think Donald Trump is the man to do it. So I heartily endorse his nomination by the Republican Party.

    (Mind you, I also said four years ago that Newt Gingrich was the man to do it, but he couldn’t even get as far as the nomination.)

  96. 96.

    Adam L Silverman

    @raven: Doesn’t surprise me. Spocko’s Brain, writing at Digby’s Hullabaloo had a great piece about the undiscussed portion of these carry on campus bills, or in the case of Liberty University decisions: what is going to happen to their required to have liability insurance? We know that the companies that sell this product told KC, Kansas public schools that they would drop coverage for any specific school and the school district should teachers and others be allowed to carry on those campuses. I would guess the same thing will likely happen for the universities and colleges. And if it doesn’t, as soon as there’s a shooting that is ambiguous – as in not clearly a criminal act (negligent discharge in a dorm, classroom, office, building, or on the quad, good guy with a gun trying to fight off a bad guy with a gun and hitting innocent bystanders – that sort of thing) the insurers will 1) put the rates through the roof and/or 2) drop the school as a bad risk.

  104. 104.

    Anne Laurie

    @Corner Stone:

    Get ready for the Robert Palmer Presidential Campaign Video.

    Except Trump’s not gonna pay for RP-level production, is he?

    Unless he can strongarm the RNC into payment in advance, we’ll get 2010-YouTube-quality ‘Addicted to Trump’ knockoffs. Pundits will spend hours parsing which ones are ‘genuine’ and which ones parodies from Dems/Libertarians/Ted Cruz running out his party credit line.

  107. 107.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Sad_Dem: If this was going on within one of our allies or partners or clients that had nuclear weapons, I can guarantee that the contingency planning would have just kicked into high gear and a whole bunch of planners would be locked in a room with a steady supply of coffee and pizza and told to get it in gear.

  110. 110.

    Anoniminous

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Talking 100,000 – absolute maximum – spread over the 50 states, loosely concentrated in places a Democrat isn’t going to win anyway: Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Idaho, etc., or places a Democrat will win anyway, e.g., Pennsylvania. They are insignificant in the General Scheme of things.

    The casual or ‘garden variety’ bigot is a Republican and thus doesn’t really change things, they are ‘baked in’ so to speak.

    And White People are the necessary means to getting to the position to win the election but they no long comprise the winning percentage. There’s no rational scenario giving Trump the ability to flip any 2012 Obama state.

  111. 111.

    Cacti

    The GOP has evolved. They’re no longer a proto-fascist party. They’re the real deal.

    All it took was the election and re-election of a black man as POTUS to send them off the rails.

  112. 112.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @Nemo_N: He can’t move toward the center because he has no policies to move. He just blurts out whatever comes into his head that day. CNN is mouthing conventional crap. What must that do to their brains?

  114. 114.

    ? Martin

    I know there’s a general feeling that Clinton will seek to rise above Trump, but I bet anything she is going to nuke him from orbit, starting with his misogynistic comments over the years, and starting soon.

  118. 118.

    Mnemosyne

    @Splitting Image:

    Trump it is, then. I’ve been saying for years that Alf Landon deserves better than to be remembered as the person who won the fewest electoral votes in modern history. I think it’s high time that someone got fewer than 8 electoral votes and I think Donald Trump is the man to do it. So I heartily endorse his nomination by the Republican Party.

    You are a pseudonymous commenter after my own heart. Come sit next to me.

  119. 119.

    geg6

    @Adam L Silverman:

    No way the pros of white supremacy compare to even a small percentage of the new citizens that Drumpf has motivated to complete let the citizenship process. Been reading reports of astonishing numbers of longtime legal non-citizens suddenly deciding they needed to get their citizenship status changed over the last year.

  121. 121.

    Adam L Silverman

    @raven: Yep, he’s not stupid, just generally reactionary. He also knows that if it all goes wrong, he gets the blame as governor, not the idiots in the legislature that passed the terrible legislation that enabled it.

  122. 122.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @? Martin: I think she has to go after him. Kerry tried to stay above the Swift Boat accusations and they did him in. Going after Trump on misogyny is a good idea since it really ticks women off and they’re the majority of reliable voters. I’d also like to see her go after him as a bad businessman, turning what he claims as his strength into a weakness.

  123. 123.

    LAO

    @Iowa Old Lady: the elephant in the room, isn’t his “policies” whatever they are but Trump’s total and utter lack of temperament. And his belief that he is the smartest man in the room. That’s not fixable.

  128. 128.

    Suzanne

    I cannot stop laughing. Might as well lie back and enjoy this.

    And Ted Cruz had to drop out. LMMFAOOOOO.

    God, I hope he cries until his dick falls off.

  129. 129.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Anoniminous: I think those look like decent estimates. As for Trump not flipping states: barring significant shenanigans, I think that’s a good analysis. And I’m really not sure the GOP, even at the state level, is going to be willing to pull major shenanigans for him. Scott and Bondi here in Florida maybe, Christie if he didn’t already have a pair of US Attorneys watching him 24/7. But I don’t see too many others being willing to do so.

  130. 130.

    lamh36

    Ok…I don’t like HRC, but Chuck Todd saying that the race between HRC and will be in the gutter thanks to Trump and Clinton?

    Whet? I dont like HRC, but I don’t see the HRC campaign getting in the gutter with Trump…why would she though?

    But MSNBC has their narratives to feed…smh

    POTUS was right… “Fu&* Chuck Todd”…smh

  132. 132.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Anoniminous:

    There’s no rational scenario giving Trump the ability to flip any 2012 Obama state.

    The two I’m uncertain about are Colorado and Iowa, and that’s mostly because there are no recent polls. Some very early head-to-heads from last fall indicated that Colorado might be a rare actual case of a 2012 Obama state lost to the Republicans because we didn’t nominate Bernie Sanders.

    But most of the general-election polling in other states has moved in Clinton’s direction since then. It’s possible that now that Trump has clinched it while Clinton is still in a somewhat divisive primary campaign, we’ll see Trump gradually doing better in general-election polls for a while.

  134. 134.

    Adam L Silverman

    @geg6: Yep. Unfortunately the majority of those soon to be citizens tend to live in places that have taken full advantage of the Shelby decision.

  135. 135.

    Ella in New Mexico

    Chuckie Todd is all worked up that the “two most unpopular candidates in history are our only choice”.

    Ummm, Chuck, I don’t care what Republicans think. I care what the REST OF US THINK.

    And let’s all give Congrats to Sanders for taking Indiana, even if he won’t win in the end. Like my sister-in-law in Indiana who is a local Democratic Party Chair “I don’t give a rats ass if it’s Hilary or Bernie. We voted for Hilary, but it was a hard decision. No matter what, either one is miles ahead of fucking Donald Trump. He’s not gonna win.”

  141. 141.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @Matt McIrvin: Iowa has gone Democratic in 5 of the last 6 presidential elections, and most of its Republicans are Evangelicals, who aren’t natural Trump voters. Cruz beat Trump in the caucus here. No guarantees of course, but I’m hopeful.

  145. 145.

    Adam L Silverman

    @LAO: Yep, its either going to go quick in OT or its going to be a long night.

    Also, in regard to Dallas V St. Louis: who schedules a puck drop for 9:42? The scheduling of these games this year has been bizarre!

  147. 147.

    Gin & Tonic

    It says “open thread” up top, so I will ignore the Trumpening to mention that BBC is reporting that the Eurovision song contest finals will be broadcast live in the US. I’m sure all the US-resident Eurovision song contest fans here at B-J will be delighted by that news.

    Apparently it will be broadcast on a channel I previously hadn’t heard of called Logo, part of Viacom. Which is apparently a channel geared to the LGBT community. Make of that what you will.

  149. 149.

    JMG

    I am the only Democrat in my family. My Mom went libertarian because she is a fierce abortion rights advocate but also could never vote for a Democrat. My two brothers and their wives are literal country club Republicans. And I am genuinely curious as to what they will do. They are a real estate lawyer and high priced consultant respectively. They know Trump’s a joke. They are hardly social conservatives. But the tribal instinct is strong. I’ll check back in October with a status report.

  150. 150.

    Smiling Mortician

    @dmsilev: I’m really late to this thread, and I’m sure others have said this already, but this

    Night of the Long Sporks

    is perfection.

  155. 155.

    Lizzy L

    The registration drives and GOTV efforts in Hispanic/Latino/majority immigrant communities (like the one I live in) are going to be enormous, and HRC’s ads targeted to women are going to be ruthless — I can’t wait. I thought the creation of the official “Woman Card” by the Clinton campaign was wicked smart, and you know Trump is not going to be able to stifle his misogyny; it’s part of him. I suppose some percentage of Republican women will be able to ignore it, and vote for him, but that group may grow smaller as the months wear on. Bernie’s winning Indiana, looks like. Don’t know what to make of that. I still think HRC’s most likely to be the nominee. And whichever of them wins, the other needs to wholly and completely support the winner, heart and soul, pedal to the metal and balls to the wall, because a Trump presidency Must. Not. Happen.

  156. 156.

    Soylent Green

    There’s some heavy drinking being done tonight by the RedState Trike Force. The comments over there are hilarious. They’re all pledging never to vote Republican or watch Faux News again.

  158. 158.

    liberal

    @lamh36:

    Whet? I dont like HRC, but I don’t see the HRC campaign getting in the gutter with Trump…why would she though?

    IMHO the smart thing for HRC to do will be to act presidential by treating Trump “nicely”, as one would a deranged child. The trap is if she gets into a tit-for-tat with him and his insults. Doubt she’d do that.

  159. 159.

    starscream

    It seems like Hillary is contesting WV more than Indiana. I remember her doing really well in Appalachia in 2008, does she think she has a chance there in the general?

  162. 162.

    liberal

    @Rolling Along:

    So sad to see somebody who has lost 67% of the GOP vote, who doesn’t advocate any meaningful entitlement reform, who demagogues on free trade and refuses to stand by Israel as he standard bearer of the Party of Reagan.

    Ronald Wilson Reagan? That racist piece of filth who started his campaign in Philadelphia, MS? Yeah, Trump’s an entirely inappropriate standard bearer. LOL.

  163. 163.

    Helen

    Imma be the most popular girl in the bar here in Dublin tomorrow. EVERYONE is gonna wanna talk to me.

  166. 166.

    Ella in New Mexico

    @BillinGlendaleCA: @lamh36:

    CNN panel talking about how Trump will attack Clinton for Bill’s affairs WITHOUT EVER MENTIONING THAT TRUMP IS SERIAL CHEATER.

    And guess what nobody gives a fuck about that CNN Panel.

  170. 170.

    Anoniminous

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Obama won Iowa 52% to 46%. Trump is everything Iowans despise about East Coasters, I doubt he will do as well as Romney. I don’t know enough about Colorado to really say but Obama won 51% to 46%, overcoming a 5% statewide deficit is a hard job.

    We need to work like we’re eight points behind but I feel very confident about our chances in November.

  172. 172.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @rikyrah:
    I did as soon as Iowa came in. I held out the real possibility he would nuke himself, but once it was clear he could get almost his poll numbers in votes, the race was his to lose. His gaffes were all increasingly bigoted, and I knew those would never lose him support.

  175. 175.

    Mike in NC

    @Rolling Along: Now would be a good time to play with your schlong, RtR. Your are truly fucked with Der Drumpf as your standard bearer (or Standarntenfurher).

  177. 177.

    Anne Laurie

    @kd bart:

    Did Hillary even campaign or spend a dollar on advertising in Indiana?

    Nope. Sensibly saving her money for California, and beyond.

  179. 179.

    NotMax

    As it’s an Open Thread, unconscionable practice against labor compounded..

    The workers set at least seven buses on fire to protest Binladen construction group firing of at least 70,000 laborers after six months of no pay.

    The news came after the Binladen group laid off more than 70,000 workers, cancelled their work visas and told them they need to leave the country immediately. Media reports also said that the company plans to fire Saudi citizens in supervisory, administrative, engineering and management jobs.

  180. 180.

    Mnemosyne

    @Ella in New Mexico:

    Trump is not going to break the Obama coalition. Nah. Gah. Happen. We Democrats may be having a family fight right now, but I have no doubt we’re going to pull it together well before November and all unite behind our candidate.

    If we can get just a couple of percent of the married white women who voted for Romney to either vote for Hillary or stay home? It’s gonna be a landslide.

    @JMG:

    When it comes to the opposition, having them stay home is almost as good as having them vote for Hillary. Anything you can do to get them to not pull the lever for Trump — even if you can’t convince them to pull it for Hillary — will be a net positive.

  181. 181.

    AkaDad

    The Republicans nominating Trump has turned me from an Atheist to an Agnostic.

  183. 183.

    SiubhanDuinne

    A bit O/T, but I have a friend (have met IRL but mostly FB) who was at some event tonight with Elizabeth Dole, and posted pictures. I didn’t even know that ED (heh!) was still alive, but regardless, she looks like a Madame Tussaud’s wax replica. Scary!

  184. 184.

    max

    Meanwhile:

    “If Indiana does not act, this country could well plunge into the abyss. I don’t believe that’s who we are. We are not a proud, boastful, self-centered, mean-spirited, hateful, bullying nation,” he later added.

    Dear Senator Cruz,
    I have listened to your many fine Sunday shows (or at least read transcripts), read your many fine neo-conservative and conservative pundits, and I have certainly read your Washington Post editorials, not to mention read the history your lunatic wars as it was being written, and also listened to the many debates about how exactly how enormous our vast gulag archipelago should be (merely enormous or stupendously ginourmous?), and surely I have heard the keen pride in our many black torture sites, plus the delight in finally sticking it to the moochers in the 47% whether they exist or not and I have to say:

    Coulda fooled me.

    Sincerely yours, & etc.

    max
    [‘Have a nice day! Remember, tomorrow is the very first day in the rest of your post-presidential messianic career.’]

  185. 185.

    catclub

    @Lizzy L: I just do not see the national organization on the GOP side that will do GOTV. Trump only does big rallies,
    can you imagine the Trump team’s equivalent of the voter tracking that Obama’s did?

  186. 186.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @AkaDad:

    The Republicans nominating Trump has turned me from an Atheist to an Agnostic.

    Give it another month or so and you’ll be a Bible-thumping Gospel-singing Snake-handling Evangelical True Believer.

  189. 189.

    Adam L Silverman

    @LAO: Okay, the greater Tampa Bay region accepts your explanation. Your parents may retire to Florida one day, as is both tradition and required by law, without fear.

  190. 190.

    Helen

    @SiubhanDuinne: Totally O/T right back atcha. I saw an interview with Calvin Klein on the BBC today. I haven’t seen him for years. It shocked me. If I were he I would sue the plastic surgeon. Really he looks like a parody of a plastic surgery patient.

  191. 191.

    danielx

    Mental picture of most Rs of my acquaintance staring at screens in disbelief and saying “how the fuck did this happen?”. Granted that some of them are not overly inquisitive or self-reflective either one, it’s still a picture I savor. I try not to spend too much time backstroking in a river of schadenfreude, but in these parlous times it’s important to take advantage of every opportunity for enjoyment.

  193. 193.

    max

    @Mnemosyne: Actually, I would say Cruz is right, and that’s why he didn’t win, and why Trump won’t win.

    God, I hope so.

    max
    [‘It won’t stop them from trying.’]

  194. 194.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Helen:

    I am beginning to realize that I have an unpleasant bias against (what I consider) unnecessary and/or extravagant plastic surgery. I completely get it for reconstruction, say, after an accident or to correct a birth defect. And I get it for people in the public eye whose professional success depends upon a youthful appearance. Hell, I even get it for ordinary people who (like me) sport more chins than are strictly necessary, or are a bit saggy around the jowls, or are pouchy and baggy under the eyes. But what I don’t get are people in their 60s and 70s who simply deny normal attractive signs of aging by smoothing out every wrinkle and plumping their lips and cheeks to absurd levels of fatness. Each to his/her own, naturally, but personally I find it creepy and sad.

  195. 195.

    burnspbesq

    Who is that impostor in the Georgia governor’s mansion, and what has he done with the real Governor Deal?

  199. 199.

    jonas

    @Anoniminous:

    There’s no rational scenario giving Trump the ability to flip any 2012 Obama state.

    This.

    Romney got 60% of the white vote running against a black guy with a scary Arab-y name. Trump will be running against an accomplished white woman and facing several other significant headwinds: disillusioned Republicans just sitting this one out and big turnouts among Hispanics and other minorities who will crawl a mile over broken glass to see him defeated. To pull this off, to flip states Obama won in 2012, he’s got to win *more* of the white vote, even when a socialist Kenyan ni*CLANG* isn’t running and half of the Republican electorate hates his guts, *and* flip a bunch of Hispanic and AA votes his way. He may achieve one of those things, but not both.
    Yeah, right.

  200. 200.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Princess leia: @catclub: I think Newt Gingrich thinks Trump is going to pick Newt Gingrich for VP. I don’t think it will happen. Each of them always think they’re the smartest person in the room at all times. That’s not going to be a good combo. And Gingrich’s well known negatives are far to well known and would too easily be turned into oppo advertising fodder.

  201. 201.

    catclub

    Didn’t the Koch brothers say they would sit out the presidential election if Trump was it.?

  206. 206.

    aimai

    @catclub: Frankly, actual business people and people with any international business dealings to worry about had better start calling their local newspapers and republican representatives and demanding that Trump be destroyed. I’d be surprised if some of the usual house organs of conservativism don’t turn against Trump. From a business perspective Hillary has to be better, and they know it.

  207. 207.

    cokane

    R’s should really never be forgiven for the fucking risk they are taking with this loon. I’m confident in a Clinton victory. But as I’ve said before — RUN UP THE SCORE. Dems really have a once in a generation opportunity to really deck the halls of Congress and statehouses blue. Keep the foot on the gas. These fuckers can never be forgiven for this.

  208. 208.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @cokane: We’ve disagreed before, but I’ll be damned if you aren’t exactly right here. Or, as they say, “This.”

  209. 209.

    FlipYrWhig

    @redshirt: My prediction is that he picks a retired military figure. No Republican politician is going to want to be anywhere near this garbage barge when it comes time to land. It has to be someone who isn’t concerned about their own political future.

  210. 210.

    Adam L Silverman

    @FlipYrWhig: Most won’t want to be involved. Retired general officers/flag officers largely go out of their way to remain apolitical (officially) so they can continue to provide advice and counsel. There will be a lot of peer pressure among that group to keep something like this from happening. Is it possible? Sure. Probably? I’m not so sure.

  211. 211.

    catclub

    I think after Romney clinched the nom he won the last few states with 75-80% of the vote. I wonder if Trump will do that, or if there actually is a ceiling for him within the GOP.

  212. 212.

    jonas

    @max:

    We are not a proud, boastful, self-centered, mean-spirited, hateful, bullying nation,” he later added.

    Yeah. No, Ted, actually we are — or your voters are — which is why you just got your ass handed to you on a platter. Also, you basically ran on a platform of lambasting Obama for *not* being a proud, boastful, self-centered, mean-spirited, hateful bully as president, so it must just be that…people just hate *you*.

  214. 214.

    Origuy

    I think it’ll be Jim Webb. Retired military, Congress experience, gives the ticket the patina of “bi-partisan”.

  215. 215.

    tobie

    @Anne Laurie: I hope I’m wrong but my sense is that it was a mistake for HRC to sit out Indiana. Had she won resoundingly tonight, the pressure on Bernie to suspend his campaign would have been very strong. He certainly would have been ignored by the press. Instead the fight continues and California is a really expensive media market and now Hillary needs to dump a big chunk of change into it.

  217. 217.

    Paul in KY

    @Rolling Along: I do love that! Although, that ‘insert sane campaign position’ can actually help the SOB win in November. So, I’m sad about that.

  219. 219.

    Paul in KY

    @dmsilev: Surely not, but with him it is in the realm of possibility.

    Man, that’s some freaky shit to think about.

  221. 221.

    Paul in KY

    @Iowa Old Lady: Some of his positions (if he hasn’t contradicted them already) are in the center. More so than any other Repub nominee.

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