Shitbirds of a feather. pic.twitter.com/jKZc4MbC4n
— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) July 7, 2015
Jeb Lund, in the Guardian, on “GOP orthodoxy in a cruder shell“:
Calling Donald Trump an idiot is not one of those things you will find on a list of the world’s most arduous tasks. But if you looked to the current field of viable Republican presidential candidates, you’d think it amounted to an impossibility on par with finding an error in the Bible. A party that desperately needs to win more Latino votes in the 2016 election evidently considers condemning Trump’s depiction of Latin American immigrants as rapists and fiends something worth half-heartedly getting around to eventually…
A dozen heroic culture warriors ordinarily wouldn’t take weeks to call out this sort of vitriol, especially coming from a TV personality who’s spent 10 years sounding as tough as a cabbie who talks your ear off about the bar fight he broke up between “three different guys who knew karate.” But there’s an explanation for that lack of courage. You can’t castigate Donald Trump for acting like a stereotyping, fear-mongering bully when he’s just following your lead. The best you can do is accuse him of being loutish while doing it…
But if you want to take the temperature of the Republican response to Trump, look to Ted Cruz, who in his grandstanding way can’t help but give away the game. Fifteen days after Trump’s comments, Cruz defended Trump against the loss of relationship with NBC, stating, “I think he speaks the truth, and I think NBC is engaging in political correctness that is silly and that is wrong.” Days later, on NBC, Cruz added, “I salute Donald Trump for focusing on the need to address illegal immigration. …The Washington cartel supports amnesty, and I think amnesty’s wrong.”
Brand recognize Brand, and Cruz is happy to cross-promote one as insubstantial as his. As my colleague Simon Maloy points out, it’s good long-term strategy. Whenever Trump fizzles out or realizes that campaigning is work, his voters have to go somewhere, and Ted Cruz wants them to have a home. And Trump is currently polling second in Iowa and New Hampshire. Ted Cruz’s interest in those voters is no different than any other candidate’s. But, like Homer Simpson, he keeps accidentally saying the innocuous things in his head and the Republican inner monologue out loud…
***********
Apart from noticing the marketing strategies, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
Germy Shoemangler
Since I don’t have cable TV, I’m looking forward to reading a play-by-play analysis of the GOP debates.
Kropadope
@Germy Shoemangler: Lucky you, but there’s always Youtube.
gene108
I hope the Democrats are taking advantage of all this distraction by the 20 or so GOP Presidential hopefuls to stealthily build back up state and local Democratic parties for the 2016 election.
Otherwise the clown car of contestants doesn’t mean a thing.
The people, who manage and win elections for Republicans will still be doing their thing.
Germy Shoemangler
@Kropadope: I prefer my GOP debates filtered through Balloon-Juice.
Germy Shoemangler
@gene108: Is there any evidence this is happening?
Kropadope
@gene108:
Turning a national crisis into an opportunity? Shame on you.
JPL
Ted Cruz is letting the other republicans tear apart Trump. I still don’t think Trump releases his tax returns.
Also.. Jered Fogel is looking for a new job. Subway suspended him.
Tree With Water
“I think he speaks the truth, and I think NBC is engaging in political correctness that is silly and that is wrong.”
I’m pleased Cruz said that. If it isn’t the coup de grace to the ever idiotic phrase ‘political correctness’ being invoked by anyone other than a fool, it should be.
Derelict
I can only encourage the GOP to let its Id out for a romp. Let the Republican mask slip and maybe, just maybe, the scales will fall from their voters’ eyes.
Germy Shoemangler
20 or so GOP hopefuls… a crisis.
If one of them were to win the white house… a calamity.
ribber
When it was reported that Trump’s comments were getting him a bump in the polls of Republican primary voters, my initial thought was that this will give us a good indicator of what percentage of them are just looking to vote for the person who can be the biggest asshole. And then a corollary: whoever is losing support to Trump was apparently the candidate of the asshole-seekers before Trump upped the ante. I thought it was Walker who lost ground to Trump?
Kropadope
@Germy Shoemangler: Really, they should keep it up and running in non-Presidential years and ask their supporters to pay more attention to local elections. Keeping the electoral infrastructure running can help keep the enthusiasm going. Even in odd-numbered years, perhaps, they can keep people engaged on issues.
JPL
@Germy Shoemangler: No shit.
lgerard
I am starting to get a little concerned that the Donald may flame out before we get enough lulz out of the GOP debates.
This would be a tragedy
Kropadope
@Tree With Water:
I think GOP attitudes like quelling honest debate on Israel, climate change, gun control, et cetera are the true face of modern politically correct speech policing.
Germy Shoemangler
@Kropadope: True. The best POTUS still can’t do it alone.
Baud
@gene108:
I thought all the cool kids were now running as independents.
Valdivia
@lgerard: I am praying that he makes the first debate. He has to stay near the top of the pack until the last week of July to qualify. I have faith in him.
Germy Shoemangler
@Valdivia: Isn’t there the danger that Trump makes the other Klowns look more serious and statesmanlike?
Kropadope
@Baud: No, the cool kid, long an independent, is running as a Democrat.
nominus
@Tree With Water:
“Political Correctness” is my personal Godwin-whistle. As soon as I hear it, I assume it came from some moron who still thinks it’s the 90’s, politically speaking, and anything else they have to say is just inaudible.
ribber
When I had heard that Trump was getting a polling bump in the wake of his bile, my first thought it that this would be a useful metric for gauging precisely what percentage of the Republican primary electorate is just looking to support the biggest asshole. And the corollary is that whoever’s support went down to fuel Trump’s rise was the asshole-seeker’s next choice. But it seems that was actually Walker, because he’s lost support, and Cruz didn’t really poll that well even before Trump’s entrance.
Phylllis
DVR alert: The Leopard, with Burt Lancaster, airs on TCM at 3:30 am Thursday. Ebert’s review here: .
Kropadope
@Germy Shoemangler:
These words likely never cross the mind of the average Republican primary voter. The folk who don’t have strong preferences probably won’t engage until the candidates are already selected, so they likely only have the D to compare them to.
Valdivia
@Germy Shoemangler: He could give them that opportunity if they confront him. I think though that the problem for the other candidates is that they usually use codewords and dog whistles to say the same things he is saying. He just makes clear what the whole subtext of the conversation is. He will make the issues very clear with they way he frames things. Can you imagine a conversation about self-deportation and illegal immigration and Trump in which these candidates actually come out for amnesty or Dreamers? Not in a primary they can’t.
ETA perhaps a better example would be a discussion on something he hasn’t put his foot in his mouth on yet, he will say the actual horrible thing they are trying to dance around and they won’t be able to attack him at the moment of the debate because it goes against the rabid base positions.
Kay
There are too many of them. I’m going to give pop quizzes to Republicans here:
“Ted Cruz! What is his current job?” I might mix up the names- “Rick Trump”, “Donald Walker”. I saw a Carson bumper sticker on a pickup truck yesterday. I’m throwing him in as a hard question because he never says anything outrageous so gets ignored.
sparrow
Almost 1 AM here on the island of Naxos. Tomorrow we move on to Syros, and I’m really looking forward to seeing a play (ergo) at the Apollon theater… meanwhile, things are “externally normal” here in the touristic part of Greece. I wouldn’t know anything was going on if I didn’t watch the news. Personally, I have been convinced by Krugman (excellent summary of the arguments here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/07/04/paul-krugman-is-right-again-its-the-euro-itself-that-is-the-problem/) that Greece should exit the Euro post-haste and go back to the drachma. And there are rumors that the new finmin is actually of the same mind, so could be interesting days yet.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@gene108: You’re killin’ me here. They’re doing nothing, not in my state/county/city anyway.
lgerard
@Valdivia:
It is not too early to start speculating on his
excuserationale for dropping outThe Mexicans have all gone home
Malaria’s (or whatever his wife’s name is) sexual demands take up too much of his time
The Pope needs him to remodel Vatican City
Germy Shoemangler
A different perspective on Bernie Sanders:
http://clarissasblog.com/2015/07/07/bye-bye-bernie/
Turgidson
@Germy Shoemangler:
The GOP debates might be the rare occasion where I actually miss Sullivan. He did a pretty good job bringing the contempt and disgust liveblogging the 2012 clown car demolition derbies.
Baud
@Kropadope:
Um…cite?
Kropadope
@Baud: Umm…Bernie Sanders?
JPL
@Turgidson: The debates are not going to open the doors to the republicans positions.
First question.. How many jobs has Obamacare lost?
Second question.. Do you have any idea how many people died because of Obamacare?
Third question.. Show me on the doll where the president touched you?
Germy Shoemangler
@Turgidson: I can imagine myself dozing off during the spectacle (I’m sleep-deprived) and dreaming that Balloon-Juice front-pagers are moderating the debates.
Germy Shoemangler
@JPL: Yes, foxx newz moderators.
“We know you’re all wonderful. Which one of you is the most wonderful?”
questions like that.
hilts
“Don’t believe her defenders. Amy Schumer’s jokes are racist.
Joking or not, she used her stage to play and profit off race while people of color bear the brunt of racial violence.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/07/06/dont-believe-her-defenders-amy-schumers-jokes-are-racist/?hpid=z3
Mike J
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
What did they say when you brought it up at the county party meeting? Most places have them every month.
Baud
@Kropadope:
Last I heard, Bernie considered himself an independent Democratic socialist. You said he is now running as a Democrat, which is not the same thing as seeking the nomination of the Democratic Party. If Bernie has changed his view of himself, I’d like to know that. Has he? And if he has, can you link to his statement?
Turgidson
@ribber:
I think Cruz is making plain that he wants to be the fallback choice for Trump’s voters when he gets bored of running or self-destructs so completely that even the most idiotic teabaggers decide to abandon him. I mean, he was certainly angling for “biggest asshole” status before the Donald raised the bar.
Baud
@Germy Shoemangler:
Ha! More than likely, we’ll have to hijack a mid-afternoon open thread for the debates.
Valdivia
@lgerard: Lol. I like the Mexicans have all gone home one. I think he might stick it out for a bit. At least one debate. To say he made the cut while others didn’t.
Kropadope
@Germy Shoemangler: Umm, austerity is ruining Greece’s economy and making it harder for it to pay back its creditors. According to Krugman, they cut more than their original deficit and are now in bigger trouble than ever.
Austerity in a depressed economy is one of the things protected by the new political correctness. We know it’s good to cut government payrolls in a depressed economy and don’t you dare say otherwise or you will be hounded out of all the respectable public institutions. There needs to be a balance to Greece’s financial restitution, clearly the Greek people don’t think that goal has been met.
KG
@JPL: a friend and I used to have a joke about the “show me on the doll where X touched you” that the response was something along “[rips head off of doll and points at the soul]”
Litlebritdifrnt
If there was ever any doubt that political campaigns are just giant money-laundering operations, Cruz’s biggest donor is raking the cash back by being a “consultant”.
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/ted-cruz-donor-for-data-119813.html
Warning Politico link
Germy Shoemangler
@Kropadope: I found her blogpost odd. I don’t agree with it. I linked to it here just to let folks know what Sanders is inspiring in people.
Baud
@Valdivia: I’m glad you are Costa Rican because we’d miss you!
Gin & Tonic
In local news tangentially related to the GOP, CVS – the drugstore chain – is withdrawing from the US Chamber of Commerce due to the latter’s stand on tobacco products. CVS, to its credit, stopped selling tobacco products in all its stores last year, viewing such sales as being incompatible with its mission as a health care company.
Loneoak
Highly recommend this deep dive piece at Pando naming names and some familiar villains (such as Malcolm Gladwell and Glenn Greenwald) for secretly shilling for Big Tobacco over the years. Basically, Big Tobacco invented the Slatepitch genre to cover up one of the greatest crimes in history.
Valdivia
@Baud: Big grin. Thank you for saying that! But just you wait until Trump hears about what we Costa Ricans get up to, he’ll be on our case immediately ;)
Kropadope
@Baud: He chose to seek the Democratic Party’s nomination. If he is nominated, that is the party that will be listed next to his name. He did say that he would only run for the Democratic nomination, he would absolutely not run as an independent.
If the only way he’s running for president is as the Democratic nominee and he ruled out running as an independent, that means he’s running as a Democrat, doesn’t it?
Tree With Water
@Kropadope: I’ve watched the suppression of honest debate play out over the course of my lifetime. Which is why I stand a full foot shorter today than I stood in November of 1980.
Mike J
@Kropadope: Not if he’s not a Democrat.
Baud
@Loneoak:
Too long for me to read right now, but looks really interesting.
Gin & Tonic
@Mike J: If he were to win the nomination of the Democratic party, would he become one?
WereBear
Good luck with that.
Phylllis
@Phylllis: or maybe here: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-leopard-1963.
Baud
@Kropadope:
No. The Democratic Party can nominate whoever it wants, including a Republican (Earl Warren got the California Democratic Party’s nomination). Sanders is a Democrat if he answers “yes” to the question “Senator Sanders, are you a Democrat?”.
Kropadope
@Tree With Water: Right, but that was the only speech policing that survived in the modern day mainstream. Politically correct politeness is out.
Valdivia
@Loneoak: The Gladwell stuff from when he worked at the WashPost is pretty deadly.
Germy Shoemangler
@Valdivia: Gladwell shows up on the Shame Project because of this.
jl
Trump seems to create new problems. Trump’s explanation of his smear against undocumented immigrants is really a flight forward: accusing the Mexican government of intentionally sending known criminals across the border. I don’t think Trump’s conspiracy theorizing has sunk into to media and public consciousness yet. But if Trump is really in the GOP primary long enough to get some delegates and talk in a few TV debates, it will. Cruz will have fun trying to pick up where Trump left oft in order to snag disappointed Trumpers.
Stirring up an international incident during a campaign will create lasting damage for Cruz, or anyone else who tries.
opiejeanne
Watching the Angels/Rockies game, then starting season 2 of Newsroom. Season 1 was a Christmas present and we just got around to opening it a couple of weeks ago, then we binge watched the rest over the weekend. finished the first season last night and looked around for something else, decided we needed the rest of the show and luckily the local B & N had it in stock, on sale 20% off. It was still priced a bit too high but we are feeding an addiction here.
Kropadope
@Baud: If you’re actively campaigning for the nomination of a particular party, to represent that party, then you are running as part of that party. He has always caucused with the Democrats, the New York Times identified him as “running as a Democrat.” That seems acceptable to almost everyone, save a handful of people where being a loyal, REGISTERED!!! member is some sort of perverse virtue. Party uber alles, that’s the
RepublicanClinton way.Valdivia
@Germy Shoemangler: Had no idea. Thank you for the link.
Baud
@Kropadope:
I don’t care who it’s acceptable to. Each voter can make that decision for themselves. But if Sanders can’t answer “yes” to the question I posed above, then calling him a Democrat is a lie.
Kropadope
@Baud: I didn’t call him a Democrat, I said he is running as one. He is persuing the Democratic party’s nomination and will only run if he gets it. If you will only run as the Democratic Party’s representative, if he will only run with “Democrat” next to his name, then he is running as a Democrat.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Kropadope:
except possibly the State of New Hampshire.
Baud
@Kropadope:
Ok. I appreciate the clarification of your comment.
jl
@BillinGlendaleCA:
‘ except possibly the State of New Hampshire. ‘
Because a partisan state official decided to make it a big issue this cycle, though same situation has arisen in the past with no problem.
But, I suppose if HRC has to deal with a bunch of BS fake controversies, Sanders should have some too, for equity’s sake.
This is really a silly issue to spend time arguing about.
Kropadope
@BillinGlendaleCA: Looking into it, his state doesn’t actually have partisan registration. I’m not really sure how that law would apply to him. I am not, after all, a lawyer. However, it looks like 20 states don’t have partisan registration and I’ve never heard of this being a problem before. I would guess he can declare in NH for whichever party he wants, as long as it’s only one party.
ETA: @jl: This argument picked me.
Baud
@jl:
FWIW, I agree that Sanders should be on the ballot regardless of what he calls himself. Let the voters decide.
Kathleen
@Loneoak: Thank you for that link. Not only is this an indictment of Big Tobacco, it serves as a cautionary tale about the need to vigorously question just about every story we read or see on the news.
SiubhanDuinne
@nominus:
And its inverse: taking inordinate pride in being “politically incorrect.”
Cervantes
@Germy Shoemangler:
Thanks.
This was … poignant.
J R in WV
@Loneoak:
They murdered my Mom, who became (hopelessly) addicted to Pall Mall cigs that were passed out free at football games at WVU. They used to dress up and wear hats and dresses and gloves to games, the guys wore coats and ties, and students were hired to walk through the student section passing out cigarettes, free for the taking.
Execution would be far too kind for the monsters who manage big tobacco.
On the other hand, when we bought our farm in rural WV, our neighbors were elderly subsistence farmers, brothers of the family that first settled this area, and knew the “Indian Princess” who lived up a tiny hollow just west of their farm.
Their only cash money came from their tobacco crop, which would sell for around $2000 each winter. I helped them do everything involved with the crop, except for the actual harvest. Hanging in their old barn, the golden plants smelled so good as they aged and cured.
Mixed emotions, don’t you know. Wood and Earl taught me a lot of things, how to work hard, how to make do, fix it or use some other plan, etc. They were great neighbors, and I was glad to help them. I think they respected my, too, after a few years to get to know me.
They didn’t use tobacco, it was just a crop that would allow them to stay on the family farm.
ribber
@Turgidson: That’s a valid theory and probably true. The point I was making was less about what strategy the -candidates- adopt with regard to assholishness, and more about what is actually working on the a-hole-seeking voter. Walker seems to have had a good dog-whistle game going in that he had cornered the a-hole voter market while still not being so clearly outed as being an overt asshole to the mainstream. Cruz, on the other hand, was fairly loudly a jerk and getting a lot of general press for his Senate stunts and self-righteousness, and his numbers were still really low. So for him there is little downside for going full asshole.