“'This election remains a dumpster fire. Nothing has changed,' the spokesman said."https://t.co/mxIBJexyvs
— Molly Ball (@mollyesque) July 7, 2016
“I gotta do me,” Donald Trump said recently. The Washington Post, on today’s performance:
Donald Trump’s private meeting Thursday with Senate Republicans — designed to foster greater party unity ahead of the national convention in Cleveland — grew combative as the presumptive presidential nominee admonished three senators who have been critical of his candidacy and predicted they would lose their reelection bids, according to two Republican officials with direct knowledge of the exchanges.
Trump’s most tense exchange was with Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who has been vocal in his concerns about the business mogul’s candidacy, especially his rhetoric and policies on immigration that the senator argues alienate many Latino voters and others in Arizona…
Trump said at the meeting that he has yet to attack Flake hard but threatened to begin doing so. Flake stood up to Trump by urging him to stop attacking Mexicans. Trump predicted that Flake would lose his reelection, at which point Flake informed Trump that he was not on the ballot this year, the sources said…
Trump also called out Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) — who withdrew his endorsement of Trump last month, citing the business mogul’s racially based attacks on a federal judge — and said he did not approve of the senator’s action, the officials said.
Characterizing Kirk as a loser, Trump vowed that he would carry Illinois in the general election even though the state traditionally has been solidly Democratic in presidential contests. Kirk did not attend the meeting with Trump…
Trump also singled out Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), who has refused to support Trump and has emerged as perhaps the most vocal advocate for a third-party candidate. Sasse declined to speak with reporters as he left the meeting…Before his meeting with Senate Republicans, Trump visited with the House GOP conference in what leaders billed as a chance for rank-and-file members to get to know the party’s presumptive presidential nominee.
Trump was greeted by applause from more than 200 House GOP members at the standing-room-only gathering, according to GOP aides, and was introduced at the event by financial commentator and TV personality Larry Kudlow. Trump opened the discussion with a speech on the importance of appointing conservative justices to the Supreme Court, members said.
In his discussion with senators, Trump claimed that he had inside intelligence about Hillary Clinton’s vetting process for Supreme Court vacancies and that he knew the names of two people the presumptive Democratic nominee is considering nominating, two Republican officials said. But Trump would not reveal those names…
Despite House leaders’ positive statement about the gathering, several GOP lawmakers leaving the morning meeting said they are still unconvinced that Trump can be a good standard-bearer for the party.
Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) left the meeting worried about Trump’s grasp on the basics of the Constitution. At a lunch with reporters afterward, he recalled that the candidate did not seem to know what he was promising to defend.
“I wasn’t particularly impressed,” said Sanford. “It was the normal stream of consciousness that’s long on hyperbole and short on facts. At one point, somebody asked about Article I powers: What will you do to protect them? I think his response was, ‘I want to protect Article I, Article II, Article XII,’ going down the list. There is no Article XII.”…
The Repub base, as represented by the Teahadis and other nutballs in the House, still loves them some Donald. The slightly more sophisticated Senators are looking at polls, thinking about their own races, and chugging Mylanta.
ETA:
.@SenSasse won't attend #RNC2016 "& will instead take his kids to watch some dumpster fires across the state." https://t.co/oVcfINYCS0
— Meg Kinnard (@MegKinnardAP) July 7, 2016
No, really, Sen. Sasse said that — before the Trump meeting.
rikyrah
this is their clown. they have to live with him.
chopper
i thought he wanted to do his daughter. i iz confuzzled.
chopper
fuck sanford, but that’s still funny.
dmsilev
My favorite part of that article came from down near the bottom:
That’s the sort of language adults use to describe a Little League pitcher who today only gave up five home runs in three innings.
Ken
Think we can get a kneel before Trump meme going? He seems to have about the same opinion of himself as Zod, though without the powers to back it up.
Trollhattan
@chopper:
Pretty sure Article XII is in Two Corinthians.
dmsilev
I wonder whether there were some last-minute drop outs from the RNC Convention speaker list. Trump promised it for today, but so far nothing.
Elizabelle
I wouldn’t mind if they were guzzling antifreeze or bleach.
They brought Trump on themselves. Some of them probably admit that to themselves, if not to others.
Ken
@dmsilev: I’m still thinking it will be Monday, Trump Vacation Properties; Tuesday, Trump Steaks; Wednesday, Trump Hotels; and Thursday, the man himself.
dmsilev
@chopper: One of the other stories on this meeting had someone trying to spin it as if Trump got Articles and Amendments confused. I was not aware of any attacks on the 12th’s reforms of the Electoral College voting procedures, but perhaps Trump knows something we don’t.
karen marie
I just cannot even …
Between extrajudicial murders by police, bullshit hearings about emails, and “Trump being Trump,” I will take refuge in my work – transcribing criminal hearings where questionable police activities are given the stamp of approval. Oh, wait …
dmsilev
@Ken: It’s kind of too bad that Trump himself shot down the idea of Trump himself speaking each night in prime time. That would have been an extended train wreck for the ages.
Roger Moore
@Ken:
Nope. Monday it will be Donald Sr. and Donald Jr. Tuesday it will be Donald Sr. and Eric. Wednesday it will be Donald Sr. and Barron. Thursday it will be Donald Sr., VP nominee Ivanka, and Donald Sr. There might be a few more speeches by Donald Sr. thrown in there, too.
dedc79
@dmsilev: “See, before, his unforced errors were increasing exponentially, but now he’s consistently averaging only 5 new unforced errors each day. If these trends continue…”
MattF
@dmsilev: To emphasize, it’s not actually true. He’s not pivoting, he’s getting worse.
muddy
@chopper: It’s the closest he can get to himself.
redshirt
If this wasn’t all so scary and deadly serious, it would be hilarious. Trump is a con-clown and his entire campaign is a joke. They literally may not have enough content to fill half their convention.
And I hope the lack of fundraising burns every Teahadi and wingnut out there.
Percysowner
Well apparently in response to the question “If you win the Presidency, will you serve?”, which .should be answered by a definitive yes, Trump said “I’ll let you know how I feel about it after it happens.”. I guess we could call this how Newt/Christie/Ivanka becomes President? I mean WTF?
Origuy
When Trump speaks at the convention, a lot of people who’ve never actually watched one of his speeches will be tuned in. Those people will be the sort who joined the Republican Party in utero. They are going to realize for the first time what a disaster he is. The next day they’ll ask their family and neighbors how Trump can possibly be President.
Mnemosyne
@Origuy:
Usually candidates get a bump in their polls after the convention. I suspect Trump is going to see a drop instead.
I’m also feeling crazily optimistic that a lot of Republicans are still hoping for a last-second reprieve. Once the convention is over and reality sinks in, I think a lot of Republican voters are going to drop away. They may not vote for Hillary, but staying home or voting for Johnson is almost as good for us.
hueyplong
Two things I am looking forward to seeing at the convention:
(1) the video they will show about trump. The things they pick to highlight, the music, all of it.
(2) the return of the young girls dancing and singing about trump kicking ass. Classy.
geg6
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I am by no means a fan of Ben Sasse, but that’s fucking hilarious.
scav
Monkey no Look, Monkey No Seeeeeeee.
or, ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ No Asking, No Cry. ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
’cause I remember when a we used to sit
In a government yard in Trenchtown,
Oba – obaserving the ‘ypocrites – yeah!
ThresherK
@chopper: I think Sam Goldwyn protested, when a conductor referred to the second violin in the studion orchestra, “I don’t want any of those losers. Can’t we hire only first violins?”
JPL
Last night was a set-up. Trump is giving a speech tomorrow in FL, and he wants everyone to cover it, which they will do now. He’s a sane policy oriented guy.
lol
Martha from Augusta
@Trollhattan: I’d like to think that he pronounced it “Article Ecks-eye-eye” too, also.
Betty Cracker
Josh Marshall had an interesting take on Trump’s Capitol Hill meeting. He says the big takeaway was Trump’s non-answer on Hispanic outreach. An excerpt:
It’s every wingnut for himself.
BR
@Origuy:
Doubtful…it’ll be one of his few scripted speeches.
JPL
@Percysowner: If he hasn’t been sworn in yet, is it a given that the VP can step up.
scav
@Martha from Augusta: Oh help, I instantly translated that into Ecks-BobDole-BobDole. I think I may have been paying attention for far too long.
Fester Addams
Reading that gave me Schadenfreudebumpen.
Miss Bianca
HOUSE Republicans are worried that Trump is going to give them a bad name? Oh, my – after watching some of the shit/clown show of the “Emailgate” hearings, I am inclined to find that thought humorous!
PaulWartenberg2016
@JPL:
I hope he tries giving it from his yacht off the coast of Stuart, which is currently slimed by Rick “No Ethics” Scott’s toxic waters.
Mnemosyne
@Betty Cracker:
Yep. And I really think that’s the kind of thing that could turn this into a wave election if we work at it. We’ll never know unless we try.
PaulWartenberg2016
The Comey witch-hunt is starting to make me sympathize with the SOB.
I think Bill Kristol is starting up a “Draft Comey” effort since Comey is still a registered Republican.
japa21
I am sure that the people providing him with inside intelligence on Hillary’s SC choices are the same people he sent to Hawaii to check out Obama’s birth certificate.
Punchy
Shorter Sanford: He’s a normal, everyday Republican. Also, any trails in this town I can hike?
scav
Mmm. Interesting. Currently, the WaPo posted linked above has the title “Trump, seeking GOP unity, has tense meeting with Senate Republicans” on the page itself and on the front page? “Trump lashes out at GOP senators in meeting aimed at seeking unity”
Martha from Augusta
@scav: I instantly translated your instant translation as “Ecks-ED-ED”. Shows you where my mind is at.
Villago Delenda Est
The Drumpf pivot continues!
JPL
@PaulWartenberg2016: That would be awesome. After watching his reaction to the mosquito last night, the green slime performance would be ratings gold.
scav
@Martha from Augusta: We better never get in the same room at the same time.
dmsilev
@Mnemosyne: I’m wondering whether there will be a serious dump-Trump attempt at the Convention. Not from the NeverTrump clowns, but something organized by people who have kept quiet until the time is right. Probably won’t happen, and I imagine that if it did, it would backfire, but there’s a part of me that refuses to rule out the possibility.
Percysowner
@JPL: I have no idea. I think we can honestly say that we have never had to ask “what if someone wins the Presidency and then says, “You know,never mind”
SFAW
@Betty Cracker:
“And FSM Against All”
crosspalms
@Trollhattan: Two Corinthians walk into a bar. Bartender says, “Say, is that an epistle in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?”
? Martin
How anyone is considering voting for him is beyond me:
So, people are voting for a guy who may not even take the office – and who admits he may not even take the office. So at what point can this be called an illegal campaign contribution – run for office and then just turn it over to your VP candidate.
SFAW
@crosspalms:
Outstanding!
ETA: Of course, if Ricardo Montalban were telling it, it would be rich Corinthians walking into a leather bar.
Miss Bianca
@PaulWartenberg2016: Not me. That asshole can sit on a fire hydrant and spin a while as far as I’m concerned. By editorializing rather than just giving a report, he set himself up for this. I’d just like to see him grilled good and hard by a bunch of people who actually do know the difference between shit and Shinola.
different-church-lady
@Betty Cracker: Little by little it dawns on the GOP that their base has left them with a practitioner of pure bullshit as their de facto leader.
Mike J
@? Martin: What better way to convince people that a vote for Trump is really just a protest vote against elites and won’t have any real world negative outcome? Convince people they can safely vote for him because he’ll never take office.
Mnemosyne
@dmsilev:
You know what I keep saying: Alan Keyes is going to walk out on that stage as the nominee. It’s inevitable.
dmsilev
@Mnemosyne: History repeats itself, first as farce, and then as even more absurd farce.
Emma
@Miss Bianca: Cosigned. He tried to give them talking points against Hillary and instead he gave them a stick to beat him with. Too freaking bad.
Mnemosyne
@Mike J:
I think the Brexit mess is going to make that tack harder to take, fortunately.
Amir Khalid
@Percysowner:
It fills the heart with Schadenfreude to hear of such things, and to realise that whenever a Republican in elected office contemplates the idea of President Trump, their reaction is, “Oh my God, we’re all fucked.”
Carl W
Sasse’s excuse for skipping the convention is hilarious, but Jeff Flake’s is almost as good: “I’ve got to mow my lawn.”
Mnemosyne
@Miss Bianca:
@Emma:
Abso-fucking-lutely. Rooting for injuries.
dmsilev
And in other news, there are signs that Bernie Sanders is approaching the end of his Dance of the 789 Veils and will endorse Hillary early next week. File it under ‘will believe it when I see it’, but still.
Ella in New Mexico
@PaulWartenberg2016:
He said he is not currently registered in any party during the hearing. Shucksterz.
Droopy
@Miss Bianca: It’s like the old saw: 99% of lawyers give the other 1% a bad name
Emma
@Amir Khalid: Some of the photos of people coming out of today’s meeting with Trump warmed the cockles of my evil heart. To a man, all had the deer-in-the-headlights look.
smith
I have zero sympathy for people like Mark Kirk who are now seeing their political lives flash before their very eyes. This is a guy who was known as a moderate R in Congress until he had a shot at the Senate in 2010, the Tea Party year. He jumped right on that bandwagon without a second glance. The Tea Party was a cynical astroturf operation designed to rile the rubes for the benefit of elites. To see them now having to live with the logical consequences of that effort makes me almost think that there might be justice in the world.
Also, I see Lil Marco has decided he has other priorities during the convention, maybe making the dumpster fire tour with Sasse.
NotMax
Inside the file cabinet at Trump HQ:
1 folder labeled “Strategery”
332 folders labeled “Enemy Lists”
dmsilev
@Emma:
That’s because they all had to sit through a high-pressure sales pitch for Trump’s latest time-share project. But, hey, free tote bag!
redshirt
@dmsilev: At this point, who cares and what’s it matter? Sanders has already proven himself to be an unreliable ally. Fuck Bernie.
Mai.naem.mobile
Trump is a moron. He should have known Flake isn’t running for reelection since McCain is. Flake is no moron. He won with by a small margin last election. He can’t afford to piss off Hispanics in a Hispanic heavy area.
Helen
@BR: Yeah. And he won’t stick to it. Three paragraphs in he’ll revert to his regular stream of bullshit.
Emma
@dmsilev: *snicker* ya know… that has a certain Trumpish believability…
Emma
@srv: Somebody’s going to be in a judge’s gun sights for frivolity. Move right along.
Percysowner
@JPL:
Wonkette gave us the answer on the succession if Trump quits before being sworn in.
So either the Electoral College picks someone, or the House of Representatives does. God only knows who we would get, probably Kasich or whoever the Koch brothers are fond of. I’m betting Ted Cruz would NOT get the nod.
Archon
It isn’t like Trump was hiding his buffoonery until now. The real fault in all this lies with crazy Republican voters, not Donald.
Ferd of the Nort
Suppose He gets elected. Now stay with me here…. SUPPOSE
The obvious challenges he has getting people to speak at the convention, or even take in a meeting…
But He gets elected!
You are a serious conservative political worker. Would you volunteer to be in that Cabinet? Would you be willing to get in that demolition derby of flaming dumpsters?
Potential ad:
Clinton: I have X number of people committed to serve in my cabinet. Who has He got?
germy
@Trollhattan:
Two Corinthians walk into a bar. “Why the long faces?” bartender asks. “Are you kidding?” they reply. “Have you seen our candidate?”
Mai.naem.mobile
Mark Sanford calling Trump’s performances stream of consciousness should,well,be taken seriously considering his famous stream of consciousness speech a few years back.
Poopyman
@chopper:
All of them, Katie. Including Katie, in fact.
germy
Maybe the GOP convention should be like open mic night at the comedy club. Just open the stage to whoever wants to wander up there and riff.
Chyron HR
@Martha from Augusta:
Oh, Trump’s not going to fall for that trick question again. He called it “Twelfth Articles“.
NotMax
@Poopyman
K-K-K-Katy, beautiful Katy,
You’re the only g-g-g-girl that I adore;
When the m-m-m-moon shines,
Over the cowshed,
I’ll be waiting at the k-k-k-kitchen door
JPL
@Percysowner: Thanks, although the though of that occurring, makes me shudder.
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
@scav:
NonyNony
@srv: Hilariously this is the guy who tried to sue Apple for failing to stop him from downloading porn. He’s a Talibangical trying to force the courts to enact a Christian Sharia law onto the rest of us.
Less hilariously his license to practice law has been suspended for “mental health issues” and has been arrested multiple times for stalking people.
NotMax
@Martha from Augusta
Remembering back to a doddering Strom Thurmond pronouncing Kim Jong Il as “Kim Jong Two.”
hovercraft
@Betty Cracker:
He also made a comment about more and more women supporting him. We need someone to make a Trump ‘I got this’ poster to send out to nervous republicans. The blacks, women, and hispanics all love him, don’t worry about the public polls showing him trailing, he will win them all bigly, just as he won them in Nevada. They are just too ashamed to tell pollsters that they support him, haven’t you seen the huge numbers of one hispanic lady he brought up on stage and his ‘African American’ supporter at his rallies.
Edit for clarity
Trollhattan
@crosspalms:
Two Corinthians and Ricardo Montalban walk into a leather bar… Far as I got.
ETA, crap, beaten to the punch waaaaay upthread.
hovercraft
@Miss Bianca:
That’s the problem with these high profile hearings, we all get to see just how f**cking insane they are. Normally they are buried on c-span where only the shut-ins watch and nod their heads in agreement. Those 5 additional committee hearings will be something to behold.
TriassicSands
Question for Donald Trump: How long is a senator’s term in the US Senate?
Follow up: Does that mean that a senator runs every year, every two years, every four years, every six years, or every millennium?
Trump knows less about government — and specifically the US government — than typical high school juniors. (And they know very little.)
Roger Moore
@hovercraft:
Only people crazy enough to watch them. The rest of us depend on others’ reports, which may not capture the full effect.
schrodinger's cat
Anti-Trump antidote: A Sufi Prayer from My name is Khan
Allah Hi Rehem : (Allah is Kindness)
Set to music by the trio of Shankar-Ehsan-Loy ( who are Hindu, Muslim and Catholic respectively) written by a Tamil Brahmin (Niranjan Iyengar) and sung by Ustad Rashid Khan.
Shankar Mahadevan’s version.
Anonymous At Work
@chopper: It’s another way of saying that’s screwing himself over, daily.
Miss Bianca
@Anonymous At Work: that’s *almost* where I was at with that one…
@schrodinger’s cat: I love these little Indian music breaks you give us!
The Thin Black Duke
I’ve never seen the movie Idiocracy, but considering the lunacy that’s happening right now, I don’t need to, do I?
Calouste
@NotMax: Even more confusing, Kim Jong Two was succeeded by Kim Jong One.
inventor
@NonyNony:
When I first read about the lawsuit I didn’t know that was the case……but I knew it was the case. You know?
Miss Bianca
@The Thin Black Duke: A friend of mine said he wanted to see “Idiocracy”, so I just went and put it on hold from the library. Am I the only one who thinks it’s fucking hilarious that right underneath it in our library’s catalog is “The Times of Our Lives: Collected Writings by Peggy Noonan”?! Surely I can’t be!
Trollhattan
@The Thin Black Duke:
Yes, but…have somebody close to whisper “It’s not a documentary, it’s a scripted movie” as often as necessary. And bring on the Brawndo!
Villago Delenda Est
@NonyNony: In short, a member of srv’s tribe.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@scav:
And yesterday we got the House Democrats booing at Bernie Sanders. Can you imagine the shit show fail parade of DERP if those two thin skinned non-tax return releasing shouty old white guys were our only choices? Obama would have to declare a state of emergency.
Mnemosyne
@Trollhattan:
As other people have pointed out, at least President Camacho was smart enough to want to get advice from the smartest guy in that world. Trump’s not even that smart.
dogwood
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Why’d they boo him?
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@dogwood:
For being Bernie Sanders.
dogwood
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Ok. That’s where he did the winning elections isn’t the goal thing. Didn’t realize that was the venue.
dmsilev
@Mnemosyne: That’s not true at all. In Trump’s mind, he’s the smartest person in the world, and he obviously listens to himself.
chopper
@Trollhattan:
two corinthians walk into a bar and forget to close the doric…eh, i got nuthin.
schrodinger's cat
@Miss Bianca: Thanks! I am glad you like it.
Mnemosyne
@dogwood:
Telling elected officials that winning elections is not the goal is … what’s the strongest iteration of “tone deaf”?
CONGRATULATIONS!
This is the kind of friendly fire I approve of.
And wow…threatening senators from your own party.
different-church-lady
@NotMax: 0 labeled “Women”
different-church-lady
@Helen:
“I am here to endorse Hillary Clinton, in spite of the fact that…”
O. Felix Culpa
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
See, that’s the problem, he is not and has not been a member of the party. So he can disregard party concerns and the *trivia* of winning elections without repercussion. Among other reasons: white male of means.
different-church-lady
@NonyNony: I still think he should be allowed to marry the machine he loves.
different-church-lady
@hovercraft:
I don’t think it took.
different-church-lady
@Trollhattan: “I forget how it ends, but your mother’s a whore.”
different-church-lady
@TriassicSands: Question for Donald Trump: is the pointy one the ass or the elbow?
hovercraft
@different-church-lady:
I facetiously meant they should get a drump version of this poster
GregB
How much of the RNC convention scheduling will be paid infomercials for Trump Steaks?
ThresherK
@different-church-lady: Wow. Sexbot technology has come a loooong way.
different-church-lady
@The Thin Black Duke:
Compare “Ow, My Balls” to “Wipeout” and you’ll see that Mike Judge was off by 498 years.
hovercraft
@different-church-lady:
Donalds proof that the blacks, Latinos and women love him.
He used this woman’s excitement to infer that Latinos love him
Look at my African America.
WJS
There isn’t anyone who works for Trump who is willing to explain the particulars of the Electoral College.
I mean, wow. There’s no one willing to say, “you’re not going to win these states so we’re not going to throw any money at them so that we can focus our resources on the states where we have a chance.”
And I can guarantee you, Trump doesn’t have significant staff in Illinois to begin with. He just thinks he’s going to win and he has no fear telling a room full of people savvy enough to know he can’t win a reliably blue state this fall that he’s gonna beat Hillary in what amounts to her home state.
Un-fucking-believable, I suppose, but after months and months of this, it’s really just another day of delusional thinking in public on his part.
different-church-lady
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Never before now did the idea that Sanders would draw votes away from Trump make any sense to me.
different-church-lady
@WJS:
You’re assuming a lot in thinking there’s any connection at all between the statements that come out of Trump’s mouth and whatever actual campaign operations that might be happening on his behalf.
Leto
“My investigators just back from Hawaii and you won’t believe what they found out about Hillary!”
different-church-lady
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
And of course the best way to transform a democracy is by losing elections.
Trollhattan
@Leto:
“Does not use sunscreen of any kind. Sad!”
Bex
@chopper: That joke ventures into the ionic.
WJS
@different-church-lady: I know, but you’d think they would have explained to him that there are states that he’s not going to win. That’s basic politics 101 stuff.
Donut
@chopper:
I don’t think anyone else has pointed this out yet, but this Article XII shit is on par with Palin’s infamous “all of them, Katie” answer. This is THAT bad. When you wanna do some presidentin’, you should at least know the basics…but how fuckin’ funny is it that the original question to Trump pertained to respecting Article I, like this asshole is gonna respect the Legislative branch? Fuckin’ crazy that one of these douchebags would even go there.
EriktheRed
@smith:
He also signed on to Tom Cotton’s little “letter” to Iran.
Tammy Duckworth is gonna throw him down the Senate steps this November.
SFAW
@Trollhattan:
Re: Corinthians: I’d say “great minds think alike,” but that doesn’t explain me.
[And, to make it work, they need to be
wealthyrich Corinthians. Just sayin’.]sherparick
After reading the above, all I can add is I have to buy more popcorn. I don’t know what is more fun, watching the Republicans blow shoot themselves in the feet, hands, ears, etc. or watching the Chuck Todds and David Brooks of the world turn themselves into pretzels trying to maintain the doctrine of “both sides.”
Meanwhile, this joke, from near 30 years ago about the U.K., is still appropriate, although needs some updating:
From “Yes, Prime Minister…”
.”..Sir Humphrey: The only way to understand the Press is to remember that they pander to their readers’ prejudices.
Jim Hacker: Don’t tell me about the Press. I know *exactly* who reads the papers. The Daily Mirror is read by the people who think they run the country. The Guardian is read by people who think they *ought* to run the country. The Times is read by the people who actually *do* run (e.g. Rupert Murdoch) the country. The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country. The Financial Times is read by people who *own* the country. The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by *another* country (or the EU). The Daily Telegraph is read by the people who think it is.
Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read The Sun?
Bernard Woolley: Sun readers don’t care *who* runs the country – as long as she’s got big tits.”
patroclus
Well, I live in Illinois and I’ve always been concerned about preserving, protecting and defending Article 12 of the Constitution. Given his staunch defense of it today, I’m gonna look into this Trump guy as my candidate.
Who reads the “Independent”?
MCA1
@Amir Khalid: Which is why this might have been (another) tactical mistake on the part of Der Fuchspeltfuhrer. There are about two dozen separate emergency closed door meetings going on in GOP House Member and Senator offices this afternoon, with bourbon flowing, and the discussion at each one of them starts with “HOLY SHIT THIS GUY IS A DISASTER, what are we going to do!?!?” and ends with a resolution to think about how this convention coup concept could be pursued seriously and post haste.
Bobby Thomson
@Betty Cracker: I really don’t know why anyone expected something different. Just watching his show a few times you can see his MO is never admit errors or weaknesses. Never. Not even little ones to set up a veneer of credibility for the big con.
gindy51
@MCA1: Unless the meetings are booze infused just tossing in the towel sessions and trying to figure out how to rig the rules so a Trump never happens again.
SiubhanDuinne
@Carl W:
Steve Daines from Montana (I admit I’ve never heard of him) has one that could be simple truth or an elaborate euphemism: “I’ll have my fly rod in my hand with my wife in Montana.”
Uncle Cosmo
@Percysowner: There’s a certain precedent* in the form of Jânio Quadros, who resigned as President of Brazil after less than 7 months in office. Quadros, though, had been in elected office for some years; the resignation seems to have been a bizarre power-play that backfired.
—-
* Pun unintended but I’ll accept the award on behalf of my subconscious.
The Lodger
@Calouste: I’m waiting for Kim Jong Zero.
NotMax
@The Lodger
No calories, same bad taste!
@different-church-lady</a.
True dat. The women labels are on binders.
Ian
@PaulWartenberg2016:
Don’t sympathize. Imagine if your local district attorney came our and said “Paul was a very bad man, he did very bad things. He was very careless and anyone else who did it would be prosecuted. But we don’t have any evidence Paul did any of these things, so please don’t charge him or presume him guilty.”
ETA: said not dais
Uncle Cosmo
@dmsilev: Does the GOTea Convention require a majority of all delegates to win the nomination? Do the rules allow a pledged delegate to abstain from voting instead of voting for the candidate s/he’s pledged to?*
If the answer to both questions is “yes” there’s your out right there. A fair hunk of delegates who are pledged to Trump on the first ballot aren’t really (or weren’t really, at the time of the primary) committed to him. (Wasn’t Crooze accused of sneaking his minions onto the Trump slates?)
According to Gurgle, Trump has 1,542 first-ballot votes with 1,237 needed to nominate (& 31 not yet determined). (Dunno how many of those are specifically pledged or just announced.) Convince 306 of those votes to abstain on the first ballot (plus however many are needed to cancel out any Il Douche supporters lurking amongst the yet to be announced) & Hair Furor doesn’t reach the magic number. And then the fun begins: dive into the popcorn, pour your favorite brew & watch the Greedy Old Plutocrats destroy themselves…
—-
* This presumes that there’s no provision in the rules for an alternate to vote if a delegate refuses to vote, or votes “present” or somesuch. Or that the chairman of the state delegation doesn’t just report all XX votes for Trumpolini, or refuses to have the delegation polled when someone objects…
Uncle Cosmo
@Carl W: With cuticle scissors.
Uncle Cosmo
@dmsilev:
FTFY, dogdammit…
Uncle Cosmo
@NotMax: It’s
And when the m-moon shines, not
When the m-m-m-moon shines
Fercrapsake, dint yinz even listen to the song??
/pedant
Uncle Cosmo
@hovercraft:
For the background photo, use the one with his daughter on his lap. In case they’ve forgotten.
Uncle Cosmo
@TriassicSands:
Hell’s bells, he probably knows less than my illiterate Italian maternal grandfather did when he flunked the citizenship exam the first time.
NotMax
@Uncle Cosmo
Nope. Check out the sheet music in this YouTube link with contemporaneous recording.
Uncle Cosmo
@Trollhattan: What’s the difference between a traumatized chicken & the GOP?
One is a flustered cluck & the other…
Captain C
@Miss Bianca: As a librarian myself, I find that to be quite hilarious.
Captain C
@chopper: Ionic, isn’t it?
Barry
@PaulWartenberg2016: “The Comey witch-hunt is starting to make me sympathize with the SOB.”
He’s the guy who feels that talking about police murders hurts the police.
If he finds himself between the Devil and the deep blue sea, it’s just karma calling.
Paul in KY
@Percysowner: If he resigned after the electoral college had done it’s stuff, the VP would become President.
Paul in KY
@The Thin Black Duke: You could watch it in the vein of a future-documentary.