"Is it okay if I smile?"
"Your call, Senator Rubio."
"What are the other guys doing?"
"Constipated."
"I'll smirk."
pic.twitter.com/ycdlOVocAV— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) February 25, 2016
Not sure I can bear to sit through yet another one of these things. Meanwhile (to quote an old Doonesbury strip during the Watergate trials), out in the street, dancing bears and jugglers have become a common sight…
Seriously? A person for whom no American cast a primary vote is the back-up plan? https://t.co/AuFy9TBRx0 pic.twitter.com/CUXWKyDSJR
— Matt Ford (@fordm) February 25, 2016
If Republicans think that Trump is Obama's fault, and that Trump is destroying their party, does that gets added to the Obama legacy?
— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) February 24, 2016
Explains a lot (@jonward11 on @GovChristie): https://t.co/mZFN2GyKe3 pic.twitter.com/Bqxd84vLka
— Reihan Salam (@reihan) February 25, 2016
Romney on his endorsement: https://t.co/5Jq5utu3y9 pic.twitter.com/a6AlkwOHPx
— Robert Costa (@costareports) February 24, 2016
So if this summer China implodes => US recession, an asshole watches ISIS videos and shoots up a mall, then it's President Trump, right?
— Mike Konczal (@rortybomb) February 24, 2016
My conservative family members are being won over to the Clinton camp by despairing Trump articles in the establishment press. What a time!
— Kriston Capps (@kristoncapps) February 24, 2016
Germy
that top photo for the GOP debate looks like a “Beat The Meatles” album cover.
Omnes Omnibus
I think that smirk is Rubio’s natural resting face.
rustydude
That photo really should be positioned below the fold with a trigger warning.
Ruckus
@Germy:
Looks to me like a post office bulletin board.
Calouste
The GOP establishment can keep hoping that Rubio becomes the nominee, but they better start clapping louder. I’d be very surprised if he won more than one state (Virginia) on Super Tuesday, if that.
Of course supporting a third place finisher ties in well with their plan to turn the US into a third world country.
Germy
Trump: John
Rubio: Paul
Kasich: George
Cruz: Ringo
Carson: Billy Preston
Paul in KY
@Germy: Ha, ha!!!
Germy
Matt Taibbi has a long essay on Trump and the media up at rolling stone
msdc
So what you’re saying is, he’s the evangelical candidate.
The Gray Adder
Paul Ryan is their alternate go-to guy in July? But nobody likes him!
Major Major Major Major
Reposting because I wrote this and love me damn it
I wrote a song.
A long long time ago
I can still remember
How the finance system used to work
And I knew if I had my chance
I could make those hedge funds dance
And maybe I’d be happy, but a jerk
But September made me shiver
With all the pink slips I’d deliver
Bad news to the poor fuck
I couldn’t give not one more fuck
I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
Nothing touched me deep inside
The day the proletariat died
So
Bye, bye miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to Detroit but it couldn’t get fixed
And the good ‘ol boys were drinking lead and shit and singing
This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in god above
If the bible tells you so?
Do you believe in normal governance?
Can process save your self from seriously fuck that shit?
And can you teach me to dance like somebody who doesn’t care about it?
Well, I know you’re in hate with him
Cuz I saw you dancing near the gym (you’re fat)
You kicked off your shoes
Ever actually heard rhythm and blues?
I was a lonely Boomer broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day
Scalia
Died
I started singing
Bye, bye miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to Detroit but it couldn’t get fixed
And the good ‘ol boys were drinking lead and shit and singing
This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
Now for 30 years we’ve been on our own
Like shit accumulates on a stone
But that’s not how it used to be
When the Jester sang for Babs and George
In a coat I borrowed from (if there’s anybody who can rhyme George with George it’s St. Scalia) George
And a voice that mostly came from Sandra Day O’Conner (it doesn’t have to rhyme, I’m Scalia’s ghost)
And while the electorate was voting for Nader
The Court was looking a little later
The courtroom was adjourned
And Bush v. Gore was returned
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the election died
We were singing
Nothing
Because organize and canvass and phone bank and I don’t care who you vote for just fucking vote.
Uncle Cosmo
@Germy: I saw what you diddled there…
Anya
I can’t believe how anyone vote for these assholes.
I think the the SCOTUS nomination will be the republicans’ gay marriage referendum. They plan to use it in November to bring out the rfetus fetishists & gun nuts. This will be their election Hail Mary strategy.
Germy
@Uncle Cosmo: The way the GOP debates are going, how long before Trump makes a “jerking off” gesture in response to one of Rubio’s comments?
The Trump animated gif industry would collapse under its own weight…
Shalimar
Cruz looks depressed and sad. It’s a good look for him, maybe the first time I have ever seen him not look like a sociopath, but not necessarily a good look for his campaign.
Germy
@Paul in KY: Songs on the album:
“Can’t Buy Me Love”
“I’m a Loser”
“I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party”
Germy
@Shalimar: Taibbi says “Cruz certainly has an odd face â it looks like someone sewed pieces of a waterlogged Reagan mask together at gunpoint “
Calouste
Rep. Franks calls on Cruz and Rubio to form a unity ticket to beat Trump.
1) It will be a loooooong fight between those two to decide who goes top and who goes bottom.
2) It’s far from guaranteed that all their supports will vote for the unity ticket and not go to Trump.
3) They better hurry, otherwise Trump will have it sewn up by March 15.
4) The GOP voting for a ticket with no old white man on it, yeah right.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@The Gray Adder: McKay Coppins does. I took another stab at reading his book on the GOP primary candidates, which includes Ryan. Ryan is every bit as sincere and well-meaning a fellow as Bob Schieffer and Cokie Roberts tell you he is, all about refocusing the GOP to fighting poverty with innovative solutions, motivated by his faith and his hardscrabble childhood in the upper-middle class branch of his very rich family. I got bored/irritated halfway through that chapter and skimmed the rest looking for any mention of Ayn Rand or Objectivism. In fairness to Coppins, I was just skimming but I didn’t see either. Nor any reference to the culture of the inner-cities in which it’s normal for men to have no work ethic, to use the social safety net as a hammock, if you will.
I started the chapter on the Great Autopsy, got to the part about Ari Fletcher being misunderstood. I don’t like to not finish any book, but I think I’m done.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
âââââââââââââââââââââââ.
Gallup Presidential Approval Ratings:
Barack Obama? (Feb 20, 2016)
ApproveâŠâŠâŠâŠ.50%
DisapproveâŠâŠ.46%
George W. Bush ?(Feb 20, 2008)
ApproveâŠâŠâŠâŠ.31%
DisapproveâŠâŠ.65%
NBC/WSJ Poll â Trump Ratings â Feb 14 thur 16
ApproveâŠâŠ..âŠ.28%
DisapproveâŠâŠ.59% â
Please Proceed, Donald?
MomSense
@Shalimar:
I was going to write that Cruz looks really sad to me. Not sure that a sad Cruz isn’t a terrifying Cruz however.
beltane
@Calouste: I have no idea who, outside the Beltway, a Rubio/Cruz unity ticket would appeal to. If they want a non-Trump unity ticket that appeals to Republican base voters, they should think outside the box and go with a Nugent/Palin unity ticket.
Major Major Major Major
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: I somehow blame Hillary
Luthe
@Germy: More songs:
“Creep”
“I Am a Rock”
“Tears of a Clown”
“The Man Who Sold the World”
Luthe
@Calouste:
Now look, I don’t judge anyone for their fantasies, but this is a family blog and I did NOT need that mental image. *goes off to find brain bleach*
Amir Khalid
So there’s the Republican Final Five: the Loose Cannon, the Jackhole, two Damp Squibs and a Kook. The Loose Cannon is way out in front. The Jackhole isn’t quite close enough to catch him. Not that anyone really wants the Jackhole to win; after all, he’s a jackhole. One Damp Squib (Kasich) and the Kook (Carson) are essentially out of contention; the other Damp Squib (Rubio) is hanging on by a prayer. In fact, the Kook has just come to; he’s sitting at trackside, wondering, “Where am I?”
JPL
@Shalimar: The ad that Cruz has been running shows him with way to much lipstick. It’s not the way shade for him.
beltane
Here is Donald Trump’s Twitter response to Mitt Romney:
Ohio Mom
I don’t keep careful track of these things, did not know there was a GOP debate tonight. Will be running home from tonight’s parent-teacher conferences so I don’t miss a moment.
That last one was one of the most astounding spectacles I’ve ever seen. I’m hooked.
OzarkHillbilly
@beltane: I was thinking more along the lines of a Hitler/ Cardinal Richelieu ticket.
oldgold
Trump’s tweet concerning Romney’s statement about his taxes.
“Mitt Romney, who was one of the dumbest and worst candidates in the history of Republican politics, is now pushing me on tax returns. Dope!”
6:34 AM – 25 Feb 2016
beltane
@OzarkHillbilly: That would be way too hoity-toity European for Trump’s fan base of authentically real RealAmericans.
rikyrah
Senate Republicans Lose Their Minds on a Supreme Court Seat
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
FEB. 24, 2016
Following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, Senate Republicans apparently believe they can profit by creating a political crisis that the nation has never seen before. On Tuesday, the leadership doubled down on its refusal to take any action on any nominee from President Obama to replace Justice Scalia.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader who seems to have lost touch with reality and the Constitution, accused Mr. Obama of plunging the nation into a âbitter and avoidable struggleâ should he name anyone to the court.
Forget an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor. Top Republicans are pledging not to hold hearings or even to meet with a nominee.
In a statement dripping with sarcasm, Mr. McConnell said that Mr. Obama âhas every right to nominate someone,â and âeven if doing so will inevitably plunge our nation into another bitter and avoidable struggle, that is his right. Even if he never expects that nominee to actually be confirmed but rather to wield as an electoral cudgel, that is his right.â
Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the majority whip, said, âWe believe the American people need to decide who is going to make this appointment rather than a lame-duck president.â
These statements are so twisted that itâs hard to know where to begin. Letâs take them one by one.
WaterGirl
@Major Major Major Major: I’m sorry I didn’t comment on your song in the last thread. I wanted to read to the bottom and make sure 20 other people hadn’t already commented, but then I forgot by the time I got to the bottom.
I loved the original song and I thought your lyrics were great!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@beltane: I thought Willard’s reluctance to endorse might be a sign that he was waiting for Reince to call on him to mount that White Horse and ride to the rescue, but even Willard can’t be stupid enough to start his comeback by starting to talk about tax returns, can he?
Iowa Old Lady
I don’t see how they can keep from noticing that Trump is going to be their nominee. It’s too late for them to stop him.
WaterGirl
@Shalimar: Depressed and sad, yes, but still a sociopath. I wouldn’t ride an elevator with that man.
beltane
@Ohio Mom: My 15 year old son has been asking me when the next Republican debate is. He had so much fun watching the last one. This time we are going to prepare properly and make some popcorn before hand.
Lamh36
Good morning Juicers!!!
just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you who visited my sisters gofundme page last night. My sister was overwhelmed by the generosity of people who donated to her fund who do not even know her personally.
So she sends a big hearty thanks you to all of you guys.
And of course I’d like to personally thank every last one of you, donor or not, and ask that you guys please keep me and my sister and my family lifted up with good vibes, prayers, spells, chants or wherever you believe in!
Merci beaucoup!!!
beltane
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Maybe Trump is correct in pointing out that Willard is a dope.
Germy
@Luthe:
more songs:
.
âPiggiesâ
.
âBaby Youâre A Rich Manâ
..
âI Me Mineâ
.
âSie Liebt Dichâ
Steve in the ATL
@beltane: They are trying to bring in the Millennial vote, so maybe Kid Rock/Josh Duggar
Steve in the ATL
@Germy: How could you forget “Happiness Is A Warm Gun”?
Germy
@beltane: Romney/Ryan 2016!
WaterGirl
@Lamh36: I thought I was up on all the threads yesterday, but apparently not. Do you have a link or part of a thread name to direct me to?
Germy
@Steve in the ATL: Best title.
And Trump plays the Beatles “Revolution” at every rally. Has he listened to the lyrics? It’s a cautionary tale…
WaterGirl
@Germy: You bastard! :-)
jake the antisoshul soshulist
You realize that one of the contenders in this reality show/klown kar/slow motion train wreck has a non zero chance if being elected to the US presidency.
raven
@Germy:
Got in a little hometown jam so they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land to go and kill the yellow man
Born in the U.S.A.
Steve in the ATL
@Germy: He likes the Chairman Mao reference because it reminds him of where his clothing line is made
Miss Bianca
@Germy:
How about “Help!”?
OzarkHillbilly
@beltane: Good point. How’s about Nathan Bedford Forrest and Charles Manson?
Steve in the ATL
@Miss Bianca: That would require more self-awareness than they seem to possess
Miss Bianca
@Steve in the ATL:
I was thinking of *my* reaction, I’m afraid…but point taken.
Kirbster
When Trump becomes the inevitable Republican nominee on or before March 15th, the establishment types will fall in line behind him with astonishing speed. Conservative “principles” are always secondary to winning.
Jack the Second
To be fair, the Republican establishment wouldn’t have been able to spend seven years stoking their racist base’s outrage at a black man being President if Obama wasn’t in the White House, so I’m willing to give Obama at least some credit for Trump’s ascendancy in the Republican Party.
Maybe 1/4th of the credit; the racist assholes supporting Trump definitely deserve some blame, and the Republican establishment, of course, for managing to sustain a seven-year whistle, but I think Democratic voters also deserve a little credit, for re-electing Obama in 2012 by a heavy margin and showing that his election in 2008 wasn’t some sort of fluke.
MomSense
@Major Major Major Major:
Well done. I should tell you that the author of the original is in the middle of a legal mess right now. It’s a sad situation.
Germy
@MomSense: This account from someone who toured with Don Mclean:
http://wfmu.org/LCD/andy/americanpie.html
MattF
Gail Collins deals with the ‘Trump’s not so bad’ theory.
Bill
Please tell me Romney’s call for tax returns is some kind of Mitbot attempt at humor.
No human can actually be that tone deaf right?
CONGRATULATIONS!
@beltane: Donald Trump lies about everything save for Republicans. Who he tells nothing but the unvarnished truth about.
This is a curiously effective campaign stratagem.
Amir Khalid
@MomSense:
And it’s getting more and more absurd.
Alex
@Shalimar: To me, he always looks like Huckleberry Hound.
mdblanche
@Calouste:
Like Tinkerbell, nobody clapping is what killed Jeb:'(s campaign.
MattF
And, about that CNN ‘Not Wanted’ poster… Do you think anyone actually looked at it before it was put online?
rk
Romney wants to see Cruz, Rubio and Trump’s taxes? That’s odd. Didn’t Romney vet Rubio already for VP and reject him? If everything was above board he would have straight away endorsed Rubio (does anyone seriously think he’s having difficulty choosing between Cruz and Rubio). Maybe he really wants Rubio to release his returns. Something does not seem right. There’s no reason for Romney not to endorse Rubio and play this game unless he knows something else about Rubio.
Grumpy Code Monkey
@Germy:
Jeb: Pete Best
boatboy_srq
@Germy: ROFLMAO.
Steve in the ATL
@Grumpy Code Monkey:
Jim Gilmore: Stu Sutcliffe
OzarkHillbilly
Popcorn futures just keep going upupUPUP.
Just One More Canuck
@Germy: or Meet the Rutles – All You Need Is Cash
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Steve in the ATL: Ron Paul: Paul’s Grandpa
(ETA: Ron, not Rand, I get those two confused, partly because I don’t think Rand really matters. I wonder if he’ll even stay in the Senate for another term)
Princess
You can tell Yertle how you feel about his obstructionism here:
https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/?p=ContactForm
piratedan
@Germy:
I would humbly suggest:
Yesterday, Run for Your Life and Nowhere Man be added to side 2
raven
@mdblanche: And then there was Thunderclap Newman playing “Something in the Air” as businessmen grabbed for money in a pool of shit and blood in the Magic Christian.
boatboy_srq
@OzarkHillbilly: Riddle/Malfoy ’16!
raven
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Guy Grand was a Grand Guy.
Grumpy Code Monkey
@Kirbster:
Which is pissing off the Red Staters to no end . They haaaaaaate Trump, and are furious with their own party for not treating him as a serious threat from the beginning (then again, who of us did?). They want Cruz, will settle for Rubio, but are cracking open the Drano in anticipation of Trump taking the nomination.
It’s kind of a wonder to behold.
MattF
@OzarkHillbilly: Tsk. ‘Trump University’. I just wonder, who in the world would send money to a ‘university’ named after The Donald. Seriously, even if you’re a fan– e.g., would anyone want to enroll at ‘Palin University’? Yes? No? WTF?
Amir Khalid
Dafuq?
maeve
All Trump has to do to win the nomination is agree to select an establishment VP – then he’ll actually be in charge while Trump goes around getting his ego stroked but not really caring about governing – he’ll just sign whatever he’s told to as long as he gets flattered in the right way.
p.a.
@JPL:
Instead of spring summer etc palettes Ted’s are 6th 7th 8th 9th circles of Hell.
MattF
@maeve: Like a Trump/Bush ticket? The mind reels.
Amir Khalid
@MattF:
Maybe, if it was Michael Palin University. Sarah Palin University, no way.
Matt McIrvin
@Germy: I lieb ya, baby, I lieb ya, now lieb me alone!
MattF
@Amir Khalid: Right. I think a Department of Silly Walks is just what’s needed here.
boatboy_srq
@Amir Khalid: That’s so the three-year-old who accidentally shoots Mommy when all he wanted was the candy bar in her purse can be charged as an adult for the involuntary manslaughter.
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
Trump Nation: I’m not sure we don’t deserve a President Trump…
Its assholes, all the way down…
Central Planning
How about the Rodeo Song
Gelfling545
@beltane: That’s some fine presidential speech right there.
p.a.
@MattF:
Econ 101: How not to pay taxes on $1 billion. First, inherit $1 billion… (h/t Steve Martin)
Brachiator
I’ll miss Jeb! at this debate. I hope someone interviews him to ask his opinion about who won, because he has become an absolute Whiny A@@ T*tty Baby over his own freakin decision to quit the presidential race:
He’s still kissing the butts of the money men with this weak ass shit. Significantly, he thinks that mere voters exist solely to acknowledge his coronation, and just doesn’t get the fact that his royal family has been deposed.
Maybe he should ask his momma to explain it to him.
maeve
@MattF:
There is a precedent – who was actually in charge during Shrub’s administration – was it Bush or Cheney an Rumsfeld? That’s one reason why you hear Republican establishment folks preferring Trump to Cruz. If Trump runs the table and gets the delegates – they’ll just go to plan B.
MattF
@Brachiator: If you want to point to one person whose failings led the Republican Party to its immediate predicament, it would be Jeb!. A weak candidate, a weak man, and a perfect foil for Der Trump.
Elizabelle
@Germy:
Hilarious account, and kinda believable. Give him credit for posting McLean’s response too.
Calouste
@MattF: Trump is not going to put any of the other candidates on his ticket. He’s been calling them losers, low energy, has questioned their eligibility, etc. It would be an about-face even Trump can’t sell.
Hal
Now that is some legacy. By virtue of his running for President and winning twice, Obama has led the republican party to the edge. They could have treated Obama like every other opposing party president, but the GOP decided to be led around by the tea party and the last vestiges of their ever shrinking, older, white demographic. Obama barely had to lift a finger. Nice.
MomSense
@Germy:
I’m talking about the domestic violence type of legal mess.
Germy
@Elizabelle: I remember seeing a clip of Don playing an outdoor concert. It started to rain; audience members got up to seek shelter, and he exhorted them to remain seated and watch him continue his performance.
Always struck me as an odd fellow. Every time someone asks him what the american pie lyrics mean, his stock reply “They mean I don’t have to work anymore!”
Germy
@MomSense: I know. The story I linked to is an old one, probably not admissible as evidence of his character.
I love his song “Wonderful Baby” and a few others like “Vincent” but not a big fan of his greatest hit.
maeve
@Calouste:
Trump’s supporters do not exactly ask for consistency.
The question is which of the other candidates would accept the VP slot – Rubio would
The Republican powers that be would be quite happy – the optics of not accepting the primary results would be bad – Rubio would (they think) bring in the young and brown vote – and both would just do what they were told – in Trump’s case because he doesn’t actually care about governing – sure he’d go off message a lot but he wouldn’t actually organize anything in opposition and would end up signing what he’s told to just because it’s less hassle. In Rubio’s case … well, because he’s Rubio.
Germy
@Elizabelle: The writer is the guy who created the “Monk” detective tv character.
Miss Bianca
@Germy:
Oh, God, “American Pie” just came on the radio…that’s a WTF synchronicity moment just as I finished reading that article…
Timurid
@srv: Secretary of Transportation.
Germy
@Miss Bianca: Balloon-Juice as usual with its thumb on the zeitgeist.
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
@Brachiator:
“[D]eeply disaffected and angry” NASCAR voters are this way because they’re sold out every time, no crumbs thrown to them save for hating on sluts and naked racial bigotry. After a 40 year concerto from the Wingnut Wurlitzer, though, all they know to do is to hate on sluts and the colored.
Which they’re doing in epic fashion. He’s positively catering to the Sarah Palin demographic – reckless mouthbreathers who are undereducated, underpaid, smug in their ignorance and sense of racial entitlement. This group is dangerous because it constantly emotes and is quick to justify violence as a matter of pride and theology.
If Trump wins, I’d be telling anybody I cared about to leave Manhattan and Washington DC – Trump will spark some nasty foreign backlashes.
nutella
@Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class:
The kid had a severe allergic reaction to a dog on the flight and they removed the kid (a fare-paying passenger)? Why not remove the dog (not a fare-paying passenger)?
Does this mean that people with allergies won’t be able to travel long distances any more?
gratuitous
@Bill: First thing that occurred to me: Romney broke with all kinds of precedents in 2012 by refusing to release his tax returns prior to 2010. The nefarious “some people” (e.g. Edward D. Kleinbard of CNN) speculated that it might have something to do with Romney’s investments in foreign currency, and that he had taken advantage of an IRS tax amnesty for unreported foreign holdings. Or that Romney’s previous returns would reveal in embarrassing detail just how his personal IRA had ballooned to over $100 million in worth.
You set the precedent yourself, Mitt. Crying about Trump’s reluctance to share his tax returns with the public is . . . unseemly for you
Germy
@gratuitous:
Early in the campaign season, wasn’t Fox trying to make a rule that you couldn’t participate in the GOP debates unless you revealed financial information? I recall it discussed here at the time. This was when they thought Trump would be a temporary annoyance.
Amir Khalid
@gratuitous:
Back in 2012, everyone pointed that when Mitt’s dad ran for president in 1968, he released his tax returns going back 12 years. And still Mitt didn’t budge.
WaterGirl
@Princess: Thanks for the link. Here’s what I just sent:
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
@nutella:
The problem with removing the dog was that the dander was already in the air – the damage was already done, and removing the dog wouldn’t help.
The inexcusable part was the 90 minute delay on making the decision to regate and deboard.
Randy P
@Germy: Did you read Mclean’s response denying everything? Who to believe, who to believe…
I offer this data point. Breckman relates a story from McLean about doing the music for a film called Fraternity Row and meeting John Ritter. McLean denies ever meeting Ritter. McLean did do the music for Fraternity Row and Ritter’s wife Nancy had a lead in the film, so he likely would have visited the set.
WaterGirl
@Grumpy Code Monkey: OT, but are you truly a code monkey, grumpy or otherwise? Experienced with FYWP? (WordPress, either with or without the FY)
Gin & Tonic
@Amir Khalid: I seem to recall stating publicly at the time (well, as public as you can be on some minor pseudonymous blog) that he’d never release those returns and nobody would actually care, as some were wildly claiming that such refusal would torpedo his candidacy. In the end, nobody cared.
I still wonder what the hell he was hiding, but we will never know.
Iowa Old Lady
@Germy: I just looked that up. That was when Trump claimed to be worth 10 billion. Tax documents don’t seem to be part of it.
Germy
@Randy P: I’m in the Breckman camp.
Calouste
@Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class: I would be surprised if the passengers were aware of any more details than “a delay because of a medical issue”.
And it’s the Daily Mail, aka the Hate Mail. I wouldn’t believe anything they print without double checking, up to and including the date on the front.
WaterGirl
@MattF: “If you want to point to one person whose failings led the Republican Party to its immediate predicament, it would be Jeb!. A weak candidate, a weak man, and a perfect foil for Der Trump.”
Not to mention that he stole Florida for his brother in 2000.
eerock
Sounds like Kagan read Cole’s rant against Cooke from the NRO.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-is-the-gops-frankenstein-monster-now-hes-strong-enough-to-destroy-the-party/2016/02/25/3e443f28-dbc1-11e5-925f-1d10062cc82d_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-b%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
KithKanan
@Major Major Major Major: This is excellent. If I may make one minor suggestion:
might work better as “Bad news to the poor schmuck, I couldn’t give not one more fuck”? Not that I have a problem with the word, just the repetition doesn’t quite work for me in that portion of the song.
Amir Khalid
@Gin & Tonic:
The refusal certainly didn’t help Mitt’s candidacy, either. Either way, he had plenty of other failings and was never going to beat a popular incumbent like Obama.
Paul in KY
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Mount the white salamander, silly.
jl
Some loser or nut shoots up a mall or something similar almost every day in the US. It would have to be more than that.
And, if something big happened, might benefit HRC, since she knows what she is talking about. Put HRC against ‘No Muslins until we figure out what is going on’ or ‘We Win They Lose’, and the threadbare GOP con on foreign policy might fall on hard times, just as their economic con has fallen apart. At least then HRC’s rampant name dropping won’t be so irritating anymore.
Hell, even Sanders might be able to pull it off. He won’t be going up against HRC, he will be going up against patent gibberish.
Edit: each in their own ways, HRC and Sanders can do ‘strength’ better than the current GOPers. HRC can sound very informed, calm and focused, and Sanders can thunder and tick off history. The GOPers will sound stupid and panicked.
Probably a lot of doomsters here will disagree, but I think my view is a good bet.
Grumpy Code Monkey
@WaterGirl:
I am indeed a code monkey and usually grumpy. However, I know dick-all about WordPress or any other blogging platform. Most of my work has either been in the defense sector or in what used to be called enterprise software. Right now I’m working on the communications backend of an online banking platform.
Web programming has zero appeal to me. Less than that, actually. I can hand-hack some HTML in an emergency, but that’s about the extent of it.
lollipopguild
@piratedan: another song-send in the clowns-oops they are already here.
gvg
I have not forgotten Romney is the one who broke tradition by not releasing his tax returns, a tradition I think his father started. I can’t believe he has the nerve to bring this up. I want to see those tax returns, but someone else, anyone else needs to be the one demanding them.
I’d like to see a democrat tell Romney this to his face. I am surprised Trump didn’t say that. Of course, Trump is unaware he has passed Romney as the worst candidate ever.
MattF
If there’s one thing that would kill Rubio’s candidacy, deader than the proverbial doornail, it would be losing Florida to Trump by 15 points.
aimai
@Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class: This is awful but how much do passengers know about why the plane is held up for 90 minutes? I doubt if very many people were applauding dog over child, or dog owner over terminally ill parent of child with hives. People were probably applauding being told they were going to leave after a 90 minute wait.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@nutella: Dog was an ADA-compliant service dog. Discussion over, so far as the law is concerned.
It’s going to be a problem for people with dog allergies. And until either the ADA is changed, or a national registry of ADA-compliant animals is formed – all this to get rid of the fake service dog problem, which is becoming a HUGE problem for blind people who legitimately need those animals – it is a problem for those with the allergies that cannot be solved.
jl
@gvg: Romney stands like a colossus above the current crop of GOPers in cold calculating Saturnine hypocrisy, as well as in other areas. With the current crop of clowns it is difficult to determine the dividing lines between megalomania, lunacy, self-delusion and the cold calculating con. With Romney, much less so. In fact with Romney I think it is easy enough for the majority of general election voters to see, or at least sense them immediately.
Which is another reason Romney would be a good candidate to run against this time, and maybe he will try to get himself drafted.
How about a repeat of Romney/Ryan ticket? That would be interesting.
MattF
@jl: I pretty much agree. We’ve all mocked the Mittster, but compared to the current crop still in contention (not to mention the ones who have dropped out), he’s as good as it gets.
Calouste
@MattF: I think Rubio not winning a single one of the 12 primaries on Super Tuesday would kill it dead as a doornail, but losing Florida might be the stake through the heart/silver bullet/garlic stuffed in the mouth/buried face down, that is needed to convince the Village that indeed Rubio’s campaign is no longer among the living.
TOP123
@CONGRATULATIONS!: the fake-service animal thing drives me up the wall, and, through my work, I encounter it regularly. Someone whom I care about deeply had been dealing with a potential loss of vision due to a health issue, and it makes me furious that people flippantly flout the rules on this.
NR
@Grumpy Code Monkey: As pissed off as they are now, they will all be supporting him in November. The whole Republican party will be united behind Trump and anyone who thinks anything else will happen is delusional. Even the establishment, who Trump has lambasted, is coming around. The House Majority Leader just said he can work with the guy.
Nate Dawg
@Luthe: Rubio is so clearly the bottom, I expect Trump to tweet that this week. He’s a bottom boy South beach club kid.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@eerock:
holy shit. Trump has scared them all straight, albeit years too late. That’s an obituary.
Steeplejack
@rikyrah:
Once again, Obama is not a lame duck. Can’t be said enough to push back against this Repub bullshit.
Uncle Cosmo
@MattF: Paging the GOP’s new Vietnames spokesperson, Ho Li Phuk. Those numbers hold up & you start wondering who’d be left (they should pardon the expression) sufficiently undiscredited to field as the Short-Fingered Vulgarian’s running mate…
CONGRATULATIONS!
@TOP123: I raise guide dogs for the blind. You can imagine how I feel about the subject. I have so far not started yelling at anyone yet, but that day surely is coming.
Steeplejack
@WaterGirl:
Original comment.
Link to GoFundMe page.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
– probably already mentioned, but I just saw Joy Reid say the Sandoval balloon (a juicy one!) came from Harry Reid’s camp.
Brachiator
@Steeplejack:
@rikyrah:
That little Constitution says that the president chooses and the Senate advises and consents. Nothing there about the American people deciding.
Maybe John Cornyn needs to consult Scalia’s ghost about originalist readings.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@TOP123: @CONGRATULATIONS!: Friends of friends were telling me not long ago that they travel with their lapdog in the cabin. Is this necessarily a service dog? They didn’t say, but they were complaining about the fee they had to pay.
(I don’t know them that well, but I’ve always found one of them high strung. If the dog is prescribed for her anxiety, her treatment doesn’t include spending a lot of time with it. I’ve only ever seen the husband walking the dog)
Peale
The only way to interpret this is that they are attempting to make it so that children born to single mothers are going to have a problem in the future proving their citizenship. While raw story notes that the bill doesn’t have a chance of passing in illinois, these kind of ideas usually spread. But that would be the effect…18 years if you’re applying to vote or going to get a passport or drivers license, or any type of documentation where you can’t prove who you are with a utility bill, a lot of fatherless children will find that the state doesn’t recognize them.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Two things:
1. Anxiety is not an ADA-recognized disability. So the animal is not a service dog.
2. Most airlines will let you take a cat or small dog onboard so long as the carrier fits under the seat. If you are doing this with a cat and don’t want to get lynched by your fellow passengers, better tranquilize it before coming on board. Rule of Cats #314: the cat can yowl longer than you can stand it.
Elizabelle
And Sandoval asks that his name be removed from consideration.
Thanks
ObamaHarry Reid!Steve in the ATL
@CONGRATULATIONS!: I dissent. From the EEOC regs:
http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/psych.html
Calouste
@Peale: So if a woman is raped by an unknown assailant, gets pregnant because of it, and decides to carry the child to term as the GOP says she should, her reward is that she doesn’t get any financial aid and her child might not get a birth certificate.
I would like to suggest that any single woman in Illinois who doesn’t or can’t name the father of her child puts down the names of the bill’s sponsors, John D. Cavaletto or Keith Wheeler instead, but that would probably cause more trouble for the women than for those asswipes.
Rand Careaga
@boatboy_srq:
Presumably if the three year-old who shoots Mommy does so because she wouldn’t produce the dainty on demand, he will be tried as an adult.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
I find this election season to be rife with humor. For decades wingnuts have been screaming that Democrats are wrong about everything. But now they’re all lining up behind Trump, a guy who says Planned Parenthood does good work, was pro life a few years ago, is for protectionist trade policies, supports universal government provided health care, and (I’m guessing here but think it likely) is OK with gay marriage. He’s basically a garden variety Democrat if you ignore the bigotry. Basically all these people who have opposed Democratic policies for decades actually support them so long as they come with a heaping side of xenophobia and racism. It’s downright hilarious.
WaterGirl
@Grumpy Code Monkey: Late getting back to the thread… Sorry to hear you don’t know WordPress, but thanks for the non-grumpy reply. :-)
eyelessgame
@Calouste: “unity ticket to beat Donald Trump”
You can’t bid two no-trump if you’ve got nothing but a pair of jacks.
rikyrah
Rubio just launched a searing attack on Trump. Here’s why it may fail.
At a rally late yesterday, Rubio called out Trump by name and faulted him for being insufficiently hostile to Obamacare and insufficiently supportive of Israel. âHe thinks parts of Obamacare are pretty good,â Rubio scoffed, before casting himself as the only true scourge of the law. Rubio noted that Trump âhas said heâs not going to take sides on Israel versus the Palestinians because he wants to be an honest broker.â
Rubio also hit Trump for being inexperienced and ignorant on foreign policy, arguing that heâd be tougher and more knowledgeable.
rikyrah
Well, this is who they are:
Pro-Trump Robocall: Don’t Vote for Cuban
A xenophobic pro-Donald Trump robocall urges voters in Vermont and Minnesota not to vote for a “Cuban” like Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz. The call comes from the American National PAC and is voiced by its founder William Daniel Johnson, the leader of the white nationalist American Freedom Party, who is also a lawyer by day assisting Chinese and Japanese businesses with entering the U.S.
“The white race is dying out in America and Europe because we are afraid to be called ‘racist,'” the call said. “I am afraid to be called racist. Donald Trump is not a racist, but Donald Trump is not afraid. Donât vote for a Cuban. Vote for Donald Trump.”
Trump had previously disavowed the super PAC that released controversial robocalls on his behalf in Iowa.
boatboy_srq
@Rand Careaga: If he grabbed the gun to shoot Mommy, sure; but if he was feeling around in her purse and his fingertip brushed the trigger on the way to Mars, well that’s just unfortunate for him, innit?
rikyrah
tee hee hee
………………..
Poll: Trump Crushing Rubio in Florida
Marco Rubio is getting trounced by Donald Trump in his own home state, according to a new Florida poll released Thursday from Quinnipiac University. The results show frontrunner Trump holding a 44-28 percent lead over second-place Rubio, the junior senator from the Sunshine State
boatboy_srq
@Uncle Cosmo:
Best nym evah, I think I may steal that.
Aleta
@maeve: @MattF:
If he could actually share power, and if she could handle the immorality, Trump/Condi would work well on paper against HRC. A black female former Sec of State! But he would be a nightmare for any serious woman or man to work with. (My opinion of Rice’s morals could hardly be lower, but I doubt she would agree to an even worse situation than she had with Rumsfeld.)
boatboy_srq
@MattF: Rubio failed to stop the Eeeevill Kenyan’s normalization of relations with Cuba. La antigua hermandad is p!ssed. Plus there’s that swath of South Georgia (above the Pensacola-Lakeland-Okeechobee-Deltona-Flagler Beach-Jacksonville line, with colonies in Jupiter, Naples, and Palm Beach) which is chock full of Trump’s kind of bigoted racist/sexist/anti-Otherists.
Elie
Rice has always said she has no interest in the Presidency. Recently she kinda defended Hillary (along with Colon Powell) about having had her own server when she was Secy of State. She is used to being treated well. I don’t think she could abide Trump.
The only reason Trump is where he is because he has received no real attack. No real oppo research. That is going to change eventually if he is the nominee. It won’t dissuade his followers but it will put a hard ceiling on his numbers and those will be well under 50%. He will destroy what is left of the Republican Party and I am not sure some Republicans don’t want to take the party back from the right wing Tea Partiers. We’ll see.
eyelessgame
The R ticket is going to be Trump/Christie. You heard it here first-ish, at least on this thread.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@eyelessgame: makes as much sense as any other outcome for that shitshow, and more than some (Trump/Scarborough, I suspect Morning Joseph has been consulting a decorator (the future third Mrs S?) about color schemes for the official residence). They could tell themselves Trump will be a figurehead for the eminence grasse
Rand Careaga
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Imagine how Trump will redecorate the White (again) House!