A lot of senators who say they don't agree with Trump's racial theory of the judiciary are holding a Supreme Court seat vacant for him.
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) June 5, 2016
If this dude wasn’t the presumptive presidential nominee of one of the two major parties right now, I swear this would be a ‘let’s talk about taking Gramp’s checkbook and car keys away before something terrible happens’ incident. As described at Bloomberg Politics [warning: autoplay]:
An embattled Donald Trump urgently rallied his most visible supporters to defend his attacks on a federal judge’s Mexican ancestry during a conference call on Monday in which he ordered them to question the judge’s credibility and impugn reporters as racists.
“We will overcome,” Trump said, according to two supporters who were on the call and requested anonymity to share their notes with Bloomberg Politics. “And I’ve always won and I’m going to continue to win. And that’s the way it is.”
There was no mention of apologizing or backing away from his widely criticized remarks about U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is overseeing cases against the Trump University real-estate program.
When former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer interrupted the discussion to inform Trump that his own campaign had asked surrogates to stop talking about the lawsuit in an e-mail on Sunday, Trump repeatedly demanded to know who sent the memo, and immediately overruled his staff.
“Take that order and throw it the hell out,” Trump said.
Told the memo was sent by Erica Freeman, a staffer who circulates information to surrogates, Trump said he didn’t know her. He openly questioned how the campaign could defend itself if supporters weren’t allowed to talk.
“Are there any other stupid letters that were sent to you folks?” Trump said. “That’s one of the reasons I want to have this call, because you guys are getting sometimes stupid information from people that aren’t so smart.”
Brewer, who was on the call with prominent Republicans like Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, interjected again. “You all better get on the page,” she told him….
When former AZ Gov. Jan Brewer is your voice of reason & moderation, well…it’s time to find some leftover from a prior GOP administration who’ll speak for the dark side. In the Washington Post, Alberto R. Gonzales, WH counsel & U.S. attorney general in the George W. Bush administration, “Trump has a right to ask if Judge Gonzalo Curiel is fair”:
…[S]ome have said that Trump’s criticism of the judge reflects on his qualifications to be president. If the criticism is solely based on Curiel’s race, that is something voters will take into account in deciding whether he is fit to be president. If, however, Trump is acting from a sincere motivation to protect his constitutional right to a fair trial, his willingness to exercise his rights as an American citizen and raising the issue even in the face of severe criticism is surely also something for voters to consider…
Trump’s not different or worse than prior Republican presidents; he’s just more overt.
Trump/Gonzales 2016: This Year, Why Not The Worst? https://t.co/5Fk1apL3WG
— (((Daniel Drezner))) (@dandrezner) June 5, 2016
Dog Dawg Damn
We haven’t seen a meltdown this juicy since McCain suspended his campaign during David Letterman.
Where is Right to Rouse? You still on the Trump train?
dmsilev
So much for the ‘Trump will moderate himself for the general election’ theory of events.
How long until we can expect to see the resident feral troll show up and tell us that Trump is INVINCIBLE?
Felanius Kootea
Alberto Gonzales is the worst. The absolute worst.
Trump is pretty close to imploding. I can’t imagine his staffers being very happy with him right now.
Dog Dawg Damn
Halperin and Heilleman are saying GOP is work shopping ways to get him to drop out…it’s that bad.
pseudonymous in nc
Nice to see that Pam ‘Just $25k and the Trump U case goes away’ Bondi is fully bought and paid for. Who knew that you could buy a state’s top lawyer for the price of a new Toyota Camry?
NotMax
Open Thread?
No brewskis for you-skis if assigned to Japan by the navy.
Uh-huh. Officer clubs gonna lock up the hooch. As if.
TheMainGaucheofMildReason
@efgoldman:
Bloomberg missed out on some weapons grade snark by not going with the lede *I* would have gone with:
geg6
@efgoldman:
Seriously. In some ways, the most disgusting thing he has said thus far. And so do not believe we’ve hit anywhere near the bottom.
Mike in NC
Everybody is telling Drumpf to shut his blowhole, so naturally he doubles down on the stupid.
dmsilev
@Dog Dawg Damn: Mark Halperin is saying something bad about a presumptive GOP nominee? Truly, we live in strange times.
Archon
Is Trump looking for a way out or is he losing it? At this point either or is a serious topic for discussion.
Dog Dawg Damn
@dmsilev: mega dittos indeed.
Brachiator
Actually, he is worse. Fortunately he is not president yet. The thing will be to keep him out of the office. And a humiliating defeat would be damn funny to watch.
smith
@Dog Dawg Damn: They can try, but I think they’re stuck with him. He’s the kind of asshole who won’t be nudged aside. Might not even realize they’re nudging. The only thing that saves them would his having a stroke, or maybe a “stroke.”
geg6
@pseudonymous in nc:
As someone once told me, there is nothing wrong with being an honest whore. We all are, to one degree or another. But a cheap whore???
Anne Laurie
@Felanius Kootea: Where is our Barbara Garson? In the mode of MacBird!, I want to see King Leer: A GOP Tragicomedy… possibly with Mark Halperin as the King’s Fool.
Geoduck
@geg6: Yup. I’d give even odds that before this is over he shoots off a b- or c-word into a live microphone.
scav
@Mike in NC: Wonder if he’ll actually go through with the demonstrate his assertion about shooting someone in the street and, moreover, if he’ll insist one of his staff to stand in the street for him. Or maybe go with a journalist or a judge if he feels like pandering to the base.
Brachiator
@NotMax: Didn’t they already put some restrictions on personnel stationed in Okinawa? Some of the reasons for this may be to try to defuse local anger directed at service people.
Dog Dawg Damn
@Anne Laurie: at what point do you just recognize that you don’t possess the skill to pick good Presidents. After Dubya, and now Trump, will Reublicans just admit they suck at it?
NotMax
Don Boorleone.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
It’s 6 weeks until Cleveland.
I don’t think Trump makes it until then.
He’s receiving far more scrutiny now then he ever did during the primaries and it’s only going to get worse. It’s clear he’s unable to handle it. He’s just tooooo think skinned and undisciplined. He also has no functional campaign apparatus to help him (not that he would listen to them).
Like Perot, he’s going to manufacture an excuse to get out.
Batter up: Rafael Eduardo Cruz
lamh36
Been saying it…gonna say it again.
DONALD TRUMP DOES NOT WANT TO BE PRESIDENT.
He just wanted to show that Kenya usurper that he could maybe win…
Ugh
Ken
Not hardly. The worst
humangenetically human candidate, I’ll grant you.dmsilev
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: I don’t think his ego would let him pull out. He can’t comprehend not being The Best, and withdrawing after beating the rest of the GOP field would be inconceivable. He’s going to double down and escalate and just keep going until either Election Day arrives or he goads himself into a coronary.
BubbaDave
@efgoldman:
Fixed.
pseudonymous in nc
I do wonder what Hillary’s speech will be like tomorrow. In normal times, it’d be ‘thanks to those who voted for me, I hear the concerns and hopes of those who didn’t, time to unite against Trump because we have more that unites us than divides us.’ But there must be some temptation to make it another smackdown to see if it can send the Trumpenator into a tailspin.
I think she’ll go the more conventional route. There’ll be digs, but more subtle ones. It won’t be long before we hear from the president, and that’s when the big push begins.
Jeffro
@Brachiator:
Well, yes. But since this seems to have finally been a beyond-the-pale moment for Trump, I’m sooooo tempted to ‘pivot’ towards making it all about the unbelievably craven GOP officials who have supported him (especially the recent capitulations). McCain, Christie, Rubio, Graham, McConnell, Perry, Huck, and more.
By the time Trump’s done, the GOP is going to consist of the Bushes, Romney, Michael Gerson, George Will, Ben(?) Sasse, and a 3rd rounder to be named later. Sadly, they’ll be without the support of the usual know-nothing Trumpkin ground troops that the GOP has deployed for the past three decades or so
lamh36
Just as with Paul Betthany and Johnny Depp…there comes a point where you JUST SHUT DA FUQ UP and keep it to yourself.
Been pissed off about this damn rapist Brock Turner and his father, the judge in the trial and now this firend of his…
Brock Turner’s Friend Pens Letter of Support via @TheCut
Ugh…he’s a nice guy, yeah when he’s not raping an unconscious woman…ugh
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
Trump made the same mistake that I’ve seen multiple other white guys make over and over again in the past 8 years — he assumed that if a black guy could be president, then obviously it was easy to do. It’s an assumption that only a racist idiot makes but, well …
Archon
@lamh36: If Trump dropped out in late October and endorsed Clinton he would be my hero
hovercraft
On this momentous night I think this promo for United State Of Women is appropriate.
cokane
@lamh36: i think you’re on to something, but a caveat…
Trump would not want to be president if he realized everything being president entails. But he clearly doesn’t.
geg6
@dmsilev:
Totally agree. He is who he is and it’s exactly what we thought he was.
Jeffro
@dmsilev:
I think the coronary is likely, followed by the possibility of him being removed at the convention by some means, fair or foul. It’ll still shatter the party, but the anti-Trump forces in the GOP are many and they see the train wreck that is approaching.
Without ascribing too many (or any) noble motives to these clowns, they have to see that getting Trump out one way or another (standing on principle, or presenting a close enough facsimile of standing on principle) is the only way that they might be able to regroup in 4 years. Let him keep going, and they are both a) done and b) not regrouping under any banner resembling the modern/Koch GOP.
Mnemosyne
@Dog Dawg Damn:
I’m really starting to think my prediction is going to come true: Alan. Fucking. Keyes. Because he’s the guy they call in when it’s all fucked and nobody else is willing to do it.
Felonius Monk
Me firmly believes that DerTrumpenFarter really, really does not want to be President. He knows he’s in over his head, but his ego won’t let him lose face by pulling out. His only out is to be defeated in November. He will keep on pulling this shit right up to the election and when he is (hopefully) defeated, he will whine that Crooked Hillary and the crooked judges and crooked everyones cheated him out of the Presidency. He will howl and whine that he would have the the yoogest, bestest President ever, but the crooks and liars cheated him and his supporters.
pseudonymous in nc
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Is the institutional party going to hand over the nomination to someone it collectively despises, who has an incredible capacity to inspire dislike, and who probably loses badly and potentially takes away the Senate and even the House? That’s even before considering how the people who voted for Trump in the primary react? I don’t think you can cap the toxic waste leak that he has started.
Fuck, Right To Shite may have to become a Jeb!jEb!JEb! bullshit cheerleader again.
J R in WV
Deleted
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Here’s a brand new KICK-ASS attack ad
Hillary is gonna cut his throat and smile.
Renie
When Trump loses, his ‘brand’ is going to be dead too. That’s going to affect his kids’ livelihoods and income. You would think he would realize this or at least one of his kids would have the balls to tell him.
Jeffro
@Archon:
I think a decent percentage of folks in both parties are hoping Trump at some point stops and goes – “really had ya fooled, didn’t I? It was all just performance art! How could any human being be that shallow, stupid, egomaniacal, and unable to learn, come on!”
Sadly…
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@pseudonymous in nc: no. they won’t. But Trump has a ton of elected delegates that he would release and they’re gonna vote for Eddie Munster.
They’re certainly not going to vote for a loser like ¿Jeb?
lamh36
Of course he is…
Jeffro
@pseudonymous in nc:I
True – there are almost no scenarios I can see where the GOP doesn’t rupture, most likely irrevocably, in this cycle. But I can see some of the GOP Establishment deciding it’s better to take their chances on replacing Trump and running on something NOT Trump, with all of his obvious problems down ticket, than to keep on with this.
Kaisch’s still in it, technically, and so is Cruz – and neither has endorsed Trump, unlike Rubio. You could almost see a unity ticket there.
J R in WV
I wonder if all this hysteria is deliberate? I mean on Trump’s part… maybe he intends to destroy the Republican party, single-handed?
Nah!
Archon
@Renie: Thats why I think he wants a way out. Losing an election by 15 points wouldn’t help his brand. Being denied the nomination by party big wigs because he was “not PC” would.
SiubhanDuinne
@dmsilev:
This. I think his body will betray him — or, more accurately, provide him with an unassailable rationale for dropping out of the race while leaving his ego (and the Thing on his Head) unscathed. But I would lay odds that, come Election Day, someone else will be the GOP nominee. Probably sometime between the first and second debates.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@lamh36: I wonder who will escort Little Dick to the plane and if he will toe the line.
dmsilev
@lamh36: That’s good, but I’m still waiting for Bill Kristol to come around. We all know it’s just a matter of time.
Dog Dawg Damn
And it’s just Monday folks.
I think a lot of people here are correct: if he dips down to 30 or below (6 points away), and stays there, the convention rule committee will release all the delegates and a good ole boy (certainly a man) will be chosen.
Cruz packed the Delegates, so most don’t have a real allegiance to the hair piece.
This is going to be awesome.
Ramping Up
More “Trump Will Totally Drop Out THIS Time!” fantasies…LOL. I guess they will continue right up to Jan 20, 2017.
TRUMP…IS…POLITICALLY…INVINCIBLE!
Mnemosyne
Also, since a pathetic troll keeps bringing up Lee Atwater, let’s point out what Atwater was smart enough to know: white voters like their racism coded. They don’t like politicians screaming the n-word. It turns them off, including the ones who are pretty openly racist among friends and family.
Trump is basically destroying the entire facade that Atwater built, and it’s a sight to behold, ain’t it?
dmsilev
@SiubhanDuinne: On the flip side, remember his doctor’s report on his health? The one that sounded like it was written by a North Korean doctor describing Dear Leader (“Donald Trump is probably the healthiest individual ever to run for President”)? How could such a strong body fail at the crucial moment?
dmsilev
@Ramping Up:
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Renie
Look who came out of the basement; must have run out of Cheetos or needs Mommy to do his laundry
JWR
I’d speculate that the Yglesias tweet up top sums up why so many Republicans have joined the Trump train. They see the Supreme Court as a last-gasp placeholder for keeping things as bad as possible, (and for as long and for as many people as possible), until they can somehow manage to rein in this genie-in-a-bottle Base they’ve managed to build.
SiubhanDuinne
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Fixed to satisfy the more bloodthirsty among us.
dmsilev
@Renie: I guess the answer to my question up near the top was “30 minutes”.
M. Bouffant
@Jeffro:
Your lips to wherever:
dmsilev
@Ramping Up: You’re slipping. Complaining about people using graphical language towards you is a feature of your Reggie persona.
SiubhanDuinne
@dmsilev:
If it plays out the way I think it will, that doctor is going to be so fired….
NotMax
@J R in WV
Gotta link to it. “It was the strawberries.”
SRW1
How many GOP down-ticket candidates wishing a comet on The Donald right now?
Mnemosyne
@dmsilev:
I still wish Lin-Manuel Miranda had managed to work Hamilton’s sock puppets into the show. I read it in the Chernow book and started laughing.
Renie
@dmsilev: lol he has been pretty quiet so far today but I’m sure he will make up for it now
pseudonymous in nc
@efgoldman: $25k gets you the best Camry, it’s excellent, it’s a great Camry, your Camry stinks, you’re a loser. Sad!
Renie
@efgoldman: And he deserves all that to happen to him. Horrible person,
dmsilev
@Mnemosyne: Honestly, our politics today wouldn’t surprise the Founding Fathers. The specific tools we use, yes, but not the actions.
gf120581
@SRW1: I’d say every GOP candidate in a race that’s even remotely competitive probably says a prayer every night that Trump steps into the street and gets pancaked by a bus. Anything to save them from having to defend him.
I know the GOP probably would be willing to do anything to get him to quit, but good luck. He’s got the nod and he’s not letting go. His ego won’t let him be a “loser” like that. And if they get desperate enough to try and pry it from him in Cleveland, it’ll be a bloodbath.
Ah well. At this point, I think any Republican with sense has already conceded to Hillary and is fighting to hold on in Congress.
NotMax
@efgoldman
Seems the use by date has passed for its Ritalin.
Mnemosyne
@dmsilev:
They’d think we’re pikers. Nobody has called anyone a hermaphrodite yet, or claimed that their opponent died.
NotMax
@Mnemosyne
Politicos sling the mud they have, not the mud they wish they had.
Or something.
:)
Elie
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
I agree. I have commented several times that the dude is unwell and unstable — he could have a full meltdown at any point — or not. He is a man struggling and from all accounts, his campaign is an organizational disaster and he doesn’t have much money. He has dissed his own staff on at least a couple of occasions (see Kos for one of he descriptions) saying that they are know nothings. He still has not responded to Hillary’s throw down of a few days ago. He is headed for a crash and as we know, the media will cover him until it is just impossible not to notice. Its actually scary because you don’t know how far out of the box he will go, and though I can’t abide him, it is always pretty horrible to witness this in real time. He is a very sick man in way over his head. The Republicans know he and his campaign are a mess but do not know what to do since they gave him the fucking nomination instead of waiting till their convention. Now they would have to lead an insurrection against a man with a lot of deranged followers. Horrible scene for our country….
dmsilev
@Mnemosyne:Well, there’s always “Ma, Ma, Where’s my Pa?”
and the response “Gone to the White House, Ha ha ha!”
(1884)
hovercratf
Dick Morris in talks to join the Trump campaign . This just gets better and better. It’s not just a dumpster fire it’s the ‘Great Fire of San Francisco’.
dmsilev
@efgoldman: Didn’t he promise us this morning that Trump was _today_ going to give a Serious Speech that would Blow Hillary Out of the Water? Or something like that?
NotMax
@shomi
Elizondo. Camacho.
Hispanic.
Obviously biased and unqualified.
:)
(Those who have seen the movie will get the ads’ intention. The majority, who haven’t, will scratch their heads.)
pseudonymous in nc
@gf120581:
The House-Senate-governor distinction will be interesting. Theoretically, House members can back or unback up-ticket as they see fit because they’ve largely picked their own electorate and are only vulnerable to an electoral tsunami. Purple-state senators and governors can’t gerrymander their districts, so if the top of the ticket is shit, it’ll take ’em down. In NC, McCrory has dodged endorsing Trump, and Richard Burr is mostly invisible — the Dems need to run a ‘Senator Who?’ campaign against him — so we’ll see how that goes.
hovercraft
Dick Morris may be joining the Trump campaign.
Mike in NC
@Ramping Up: We were all waiting for you to show up, Shit for Brains.
dmsilev
@hovercraft: They deserve each other.
hovercraft
I think he rally is broke why else would he be this money grubbing. Something is not right, a true billionaire would not do this.
Elie
@shomi:
I understand your emotion and I am not unsympathetic to it. That said, imagining someone completely breaking down is very different than the actuality which is pretty damned horrible — even if the dude is 100% asshole and his party deserves bad things. Trust me — if and when it happens, no matter what, we won’t feel great about it. It effects all of us. That is why both parties need to have serious anti crazy nominee safeguards in place. The Democrats have the super delegates, as controversial as they are to the Bernie folks — this sort of thing is exactly what they are intended to prevent. The Republicans seem to be too weak of moral character to do anything but kiss Trumps ring, though I did note that there was barely a peep from any of them after Hillary showed him the stick then beat him with it a few days ago. They had nothing to say, it appears.
PaulWartenberg2016
Trump is truly convinced he can’t back down on this fight he’s started. He’s going to keep pushing this racial taint on a judge whose record doesn’t show it, all because this is how he thinks he can get a growing legal nightmare dismissed and still retain his race-hating fanbase.
Garrett Epps at the Atlantic has already written an excellent article on why Trump’s move against Curiel won’t work… theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/06/the-problem-with-calling-out-judges-for-their-race/485732/
I have a serious question for legal scholars here: at what point does Trump earn a Contempt of Court charge for this stunt he’s pulling? At what point does someone up the chain of the judicial system just grab this idiot by the scruff of his neck and snarl “Donny boy, you just earned a three-year stint in a Supermax for this.”
Elie
@PaulWartenberg2016:
Trump is a punch drunk fighter without a single advisor he trusts. He is way way way over his head and I am guessing that the scene inside the hive must be harrowing. He is lost at sea, IMHO. We’ll see if he can pull it together but taken with the reports that his campaign is an organizational mess and money is tight, I dunno — doesn’t sound good.
Mike J
@PaulWartenberg2016:
You’ll note that Trump keeps talking about moving that the judge recuse himself, but his lawyers never actually file anything. Curiel won’t go after him for anything he does outside the courtroom.
Psych1
Yes, he is as bad as you say he is. But, his supporters don’t care. They are voting against Hillary. Don’t underestimate them.
smith
One problem the Rs have, if they are seriously looking for ways to get him to drop out, is the fact that once a VP candidate is named that’s probably who they’d be stuck with as his replacement. Since that’s his choice, and his judgement seems to be questionable to say the least, the replacement candidate might not be much improvement.
Elie
@smith:
Yes, that is ONE problem they have. What a mess. Problem is none of their bench is worth shit. They also know this is my thought.
Keith G
@dmsilev:
I do not think it is a matter of him choosing to pull out. I think it is possible that he will be the first major party candidate to be regarded as having essentially no chance of being elected (solely due to his own persona) before the National Convention.
If that becomes the case, what allegiance does Trump have to the cause of the GOP? Add to that the effect of some traditional GOP types washing their hands of him. What is more likely: A double down on the fascist-lite crazy with a continued loss of Party support? Or an excuse to walk away from a “going nowhere” deal on the eve of the convention?
I assume the latter is less likely, but I cannot say by how much.
Elie
@Psych1:
I am not concerned about his supporters. Its OURS that have to get out and vote. If we do that, it will matter less — though 40 million not so ok folks will be a challenge.
Mnemosyne
@dmsilev:
And yet Cleveland won that election (though that article has some unsavory details I hadn’t heard before, like the child’s mother being forcibly committed to an insane asylum).
Anne Laurie
@NotMax:
Yeah, but doesn’t Idiocracy appeal to the Lulzers crowd? Dudes with low-wage or no jobs, no girlfriend, no hope, who just wanna watch as the world blows up, cuz they figure they’ve got nothing right now worth preserving?
Mocking Trump, I think, would be more effective with this audience than deploring him. They don’t mind if Baby Donald says bad things about bitches ‘n’ Messicans, but when people start laughing at his mighty weapon…
NotMax
@Shomi
There was a report maybe two weeks ago or so that bookings at hotels with his name on them in the NYC area are as much as 70% below those from a year ago. IIRC, the decline nationwide for Trump hotels was somewhere in the neighborhood of 30% down.
If he renamed them all to the Grand Ebola, the numbers couldn’t be much worse.
Elie
@NotMax:
LOL! I like that ” The Trump Grand Ebola”
Major Major Major Major
One of our progressive betters on Facebook just informed me that he won’t lift a finger to help Dems in the general and that “Hillary can go choke on a pussy juice-soaked cigar for all I care.”
smith
Of course it was just days ago that we were watching the Rs all fall in line, just as most of us had predicted. To turn around now and try to topple the newly anointed king would grate against every fiber of their compliant authoritarian beings. Trump’s might not be the only breakdown we’ll witness.
NotMax
@Anne Laurie
Never seen it; no opinion.
(Same holds for anything featuring Sacha Baron Cohen, should anyone bring him up.)
Emma
@shomi: The problem is not with the general public. It’s the bankers. Trump’s business model begins with “get a fifty million dollar loan” and he’s going to have to go to Macau and the vig is going to be murder.
Adam L Silverman
@Dog Dawg Damn: Those two couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse. Not sure the institutional GOP can either anymore, which is tremendously problematic when we only allow ourselves to really have two political parties. They caught the Buick with Citizens United and once they achieved their objective it ate them.
Original Lee
@gf120581: In the middle of the night, I sometimes am afraid that desperate establishment Republicans will find a way to remove Drumpf from the ballot that will put the blame squarely on Hillary and make people feel sorry for The Donald. Then I remember that Atwater is dead, and I feel a little bit better.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
One might even say they caught the Edsel.
Adam L Silverman
@lamh36: I wrote this in response to a question from a friend and former colleague of mine:
divF
OT (but only slightly): The banner ad for me on TPM (just above the headline about Trump) is for Omaha Steaks.
Omnes Omnibus
@Major Major Major Major: He seems nice.
hovercraft
These people are evil.
Redshift
@SiubhanDuinne:
Who in the party of selfishness would be willing to be the sacrificial lamb? Anyone who tries to launch a presidential campaign in September will get creamed and have no future in politics. It’s not enough for the party establishment to want someone else, for it to work, they need someone who will take the job after Trump has laid waste to the party.
Emma
@PaulWartenberg2016: He doesn’t. Contempt of court has some very strict rules. Notice his lawyers have kept their traps tightly shut. They’re probably burning black candles every night to keep their client from giving them instructions they will regret.
Mnemosyne
@Psych1:
There are more of us than there are of them — that’s why Obama won twice. If we keep our heads and work hard to get our side turned out, we can crush Trump like a bug.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
The magnitude and the players have changed but not the tactics.
Haley Barbour pocketing wads of cash in Hong Kong harbor was small potatoes.
And even Mr. Consummate Insider has been less than enthusiastic.
trollhattan
@hovercraft:
What, Ted Bundy wasn’t available? Oh, right…. Please proceed, pretend billionaire.
trollhattan
@Major Major Major Major:
He (my presumption) sounds nice.
NotMax
@Redshift
Boehner.
Rested. Ready. Already orange.
;)
Major Major Major Major
@Omnes Omnibus: @trollhattan: never met the fellow. Friend of a friend. But I’m sure he’s a gentleman without a misogynist bone in his body.
Mike J
The twitterz are saying that 3.1 million ballots have already been returned in CA. 68%, 55 or older.
Total turnout in ’08 was 4.7M.
Mnemosyne
@Redshift:
You guys aren’t listening to me. I’ve already told you who that person is:
Alan. Keyes.
It’s his job in the party to step in when they need a placeholder. It’s what he does.
sm*t cl*de
@Elie:
Some say Alzheimers, my money is on frontotemporal dementia.
hovercraft
@Mike J:
Depending on who you listen to (which poll), she’s up anywhere from 12 to 17 points in the early vote. So there’s that.
Scamp Dog
@Ramping Up: …much like the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Elie
@sm*t cl*de:
I’m going with what you say… I don’t think he has Alzheimer’s pattern
NotMax
@NotMax
Too good not to highlight on its own.
From the same article, Haley Barbour: “Donald Trump is the greatest manifestation of a gigantic middle finger that I’ve ever seen.”
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: Or that.
Elie
@Major Major Major Major:
Why do you relate such shit? Really. Think about it….
Redshift
@Psych1:
Don’t overestimate them either. Die-hard Trump supporters are a non-factor in any Democratic campaign operation’s plans, because we’re not going to change their minds, and there aren’t enough of them for him to win with them alone.
Our targets are identifying and turning out our supporters, and making Trump toxic enough that people who aren’t die-hard supporters or committed racists are less likely to vote for him.
hovercraft
@Mnemosyne:
He could even out his record, he’s lost 3 senate elections, but only 2 presidential ones. Another presidential race would give him perfect symmetry.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
If you wanted to be a jerk, you could report that post to Facebook.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
Any quick reaction to the doings mentioned in #8 above?
Major Major Major Major
@Elie: To vent. Why does everybody always assign me ulterior motives when I share stupid shit?
pseudonymous in nc
@Adam L Silverman:
There’s also an element of Pyrrhic victory about it, and I think it predates Citizens United to some degree. Every since 2010, the raison d’etre of the Congressional GOP has been ‘do fuck all, and ideally less than that’, while at the same time all of the wingnut DC lobby shops that used to write federal law turned their attention and fax machines towards the several states: not just ALEC, but also AUL and other generators of moral outrage bills with [INSERT STATE NAME HERE] and someone on secondment to ensure the correct state is inserted into the macro.
What’s grimly fascinating is to see the neocons openly disparage Trump. That’s because there’s no place at the table for foreign policy types like Frank Gaffney and Max Boot and Reuel Marc Gerecht when the White House is in Dem hands, or when the only high-profile foreign policy stuff in Congress is Trey Gowdy yammering about BENGHAZI. And of course, there’s not much they can do in state politics.
In short, the institutional commitment towards jamming things up on the federal level allowed a hundred sickly-smelling flowers to bloom elsewhere.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: I’m tracking on what you’re saying and what Barbour is suggesting, but its predicated on a functioning national GOP and Republican National Committee. I don’t think either of those exist anymore. The idea of them exists, but I don’t think anyone has any control. There isn’t one center of gravity, there are dozens.
Redshift
@Mnemosyne:
Okay, I guess I could see Keyes doing it if Trump had a meltdown and quit. I’m trying hard to imagine Keyes being enough better than Trump that anyone would push Trump out to replace him with Keyes.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: The US military presence in Japan, especially Okinawa is problematic for the Japanese, especially the more conservative ones in and out of politics. This is intended to do two things: 1) provide good PR in order to tamp those feelings down and 2) try to get a handle on US military personnel who get into trouble in Japan when they drink.
As for whether it will work? I have no idea. I’m not sure anything will mollify the Okinawans at this point. As for enforcement, it will be done. This is equivalent to the portion of General Order 1 for personnel deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan that outlawed alcohol and its consumption. There will be bitching, but it will be followed. At least in public. What people do in their own residences, especially if they’re living on the economy, will be hard to police.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: There are bridges that are ethically too far. Hence the candles Emma mentioned.
Miss Bianca
@Major Major Major Major: He seems nice.
SFAW
@Redshift:
On the other hand, Keyes is guaranteed at least 27 percent of the vote.
Omnes Omnibus
@Miss Bianca: Interesting.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
They exist.
They can comfortably all meet up in a phone booth, but they exist.
Until the MSM, the think tanks and the K Street crowd update the Rolodexes, they’ll still have outsize access to more and more bloviate as if the centers of R political dynamism hadn’t tectonicly shifted.
Adam L Silverman
@pseudonymous in nc: I think that’s accurate. The other portion of deciding to function like a parliamentary opposition party and maintain the whip is that they’ve also denied themselves any successes. They had a chance for getting their entitlement reform, but chose to deny the President even a compromise victory on the tax rate side of the proposal. They refuse to move AUMFs, but haven’t been able to actually impact the foreign and defense policy except with the negative effects of the sequester on the budgets.
divF
@Adam L Silverman:
I haven’t seen/heard that phrase since we were with Dad when he was stationed in Germany in the 1950’s.
danielx
@Felonius Monk:
Yep, pretty much.
One of Trump’s major issues is that as Donald Trump, he’s been expecting people – the media, the judiciary, his primary opponents, whoever – to react to him as people have in the past when he threw a fit. Cringe, give him more money, write a fawning article or whatever. He could fire employees for any reason or none, abuse people via the media, leave failed business dealings in a cloud of lawsuits and rubble, and act as he saw fit without worrying about the consequences since there weren’t any consequences to speak of – for him. Much like any CEO of a major American corporation, in point of fact, who has people at his or her beck and call 24/7, with those people using Preparation H as lip gloss and anxious, willing and ready to kiss the executive ass on demand. To do so without prompting, as a matter of fact.
Now Donald is dealing with a lot of people who do not give a fiddler’s fuck that he is Donald Trump, and not doing at all well with it. Particularly since many of those people are in position to do bad things to him, even if they’re merely reporting what he said an hour ago and those he spoke five minutes ago. You know, the words that completely contradict those of an hour ago. He cannot abuse, bribe, threaten or browbeat reporters or political opponents them into instant compliance with his wishes. (Although he’s doing his best/worst with the threats and abuse.) I would imagine that fact alone is like having a large rock in one or both of his custom-made shoes all the time.
Hillary is probably having a private giggle fest on a daily basis. “Aw, reporters are being mean and disrespectful to him. Isn’t that a shame? Why, that’s never happened to me.” Followed by “dude, it’s a presidential election. What did you expect? I knew I was in for a world of shit, because that’s what it takes and it’s what I’ve grown to expect. You really thought people were going to fall over because you’re a middling-successful New York developer with bad taste, a big mouth and serial trophy wives? Grow the fuck up.”
Mnemosyne
@danielx:
Or, to put it even more succinctly, Donald Trump is discovering that most people’s answers to a demand of, “Do you know who I am?” is “I don’t care who you are.”
Aqualad08
@SFAW:
I dunno… it would put David Duke’s “social circle” in quite the pickle…
Adam L Silverman
@divF: Glad I could indulge your nostalgia!
danielx
@Mnemosyne:
Or, “I don’t know who you are, but I can clearly see what you are – a flaming, roaring, screaming horse’s ass.”
Adam L Silverman
@danielx: @Mnemosyne: Give this a read:
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/low-dollar-same-grift
seaboogie
@efgoldman: Yeah, I noticed his usage of those words – without a trace of irony – too. Deeply fucking weird election season is about to get deeply fucking weirder. I anticipate some riots. OTOH, Trump’s twitter feed is heavily trolled by the lefties, including me upon occasion. Trump’s personality disorder is so profound, and it is a wonder to witness. I hope that Hillary is able to pants him in the upcoming debates.
SFAW
@Aqualad08:
Given the “lad” in your nym, I’m wondering if you may not be old enough to get the ref. (Yes, I realize I’m being ageist.)
divF
@efgoldman: I figured you would have remembered it. Also, sometime while we were there (1957 – 1960) the US military transitioned from scrip to US currency for pay .
@Adam L Silverman: :-) . The term is a fairly antique and specialized locution. Is it still in use, or do you just have antiquarian leanings ?
danielx
@PaulWartenberg2016:
You’d think that at some point his own legal counsel would have whispered in his ear that pissing off the federal judiciary is generally not a good idea, particularly if you’re running for national office. But Trump has nobody around to tell him the things that he doesn’t want to hear but needs to hear. From what I understand, the first time someone tells him something he doesn’t want to hear is the last time, because he quickly gets rid of those people.
Dog Dawg Damn
Betting markets are giving Donald long odds, and I think everyone has assumed he will go down in epic flames.
What will the convention be like when no one will speak? Halperin hinted that most of the speakers might be his family–sons, wife, daughter–and I find this amusing.
It’s going to make Clint Eastwood talking to a stool look like Marina Abramovich.
SciNY
@sm*t cl*de: Neurosyphilis is also high on the ddx list. STDs were his personal Vietnam, after all.
seaboogie
@danielx: Given that Trump has slammed the media, I hope and pray that follow-up questions in the upcoming debates will happen – as in set-up and then in for the kill, and on it like a dog on a bone – relentlessly, until he has multiple melt-downs or strokes out on live television. Kind of uncharitable of me, and not “wise speech” in the Buddhist sense, but if that is what it takes to pop this festering boil of racism, I can work with that.
Adam L Silverman
@divF: Its still in use.
pseudonymous in nc
@Adam L Silverman:
John Roberts played his part there, too. The House can cast its 67th vote to repeal the ACA and pretend that it means something, but a state governor (like Bevin in KY) or legislature can withhold Medicaid and do the Snoopy dance over poor people not getting affordable healthcare. That puts the SCOTUS nomination standoff into context: the job of the GOP Senate caucus under a Dem president is to ensure the federal judiciary pushes as many decisions down to the state level as possible, but doing so delivers more power to an Art Pope or ALEC.
Tangentially, when Jim DeMint resigned a Senate seat he could have conceivably held for life in order to run Heritage, that made clear how scattered the GOP’s power base had become.
SFAW
@Adam L Silverman:
That was a pretty interesting read. Thanks!
I’m waiting/hoping for the day when it’s revealed that he’s in hock up to him combover. If/when that happens, the flow of people (that he’s screwed) coming out of the woodwork to get even with him will be pretty impressive.
Adam L Silverman
@pseudonymous in nc: Yep and yep!
Aqualad08
@SFAW: No, no… I get it. I just think Keyes could be the one to redefine “the base”…
Adam L Silverman
@SFAW: I wish Marshall would’ve provided a link to the interview he excerpted. I’m also amazed, based on how that interview indicates he conducts his business, that someone hasn’t made a physical run on him. I’m not advocating it, but given the reality of the development business in NY, NJ, and South FL, I’m amazed he hasn’t pulled the madman freakout crap on someone and not had the other party lose their shit right back at him.
Ruckus
@hovercraft:
A true billionaire could finance a pretty good presidential run without much of a strain. One worth even 2 o 3 billion could finance a fantastic run. But why would they want to? The job is terrible from a work standpoint, long days, way more stress in 8 yrs than most see in a lifetime of work, responsibility out the wazoo, your time is very rarely your own and it’s not really all that much of a paycheck, all things considered.
SFAW
@seaboogie:
Wasn’t it the Buddha who said “All things come to me, but keep that shitstain with the lousy combover THE FUCK AWAY from me”? In which case, I think he’d be OK with your speech.
SFAW
@Aqualad08:
He already did that once.
Raven Onthill
I’m starting to worry he may self-destruct before the election and Clinton may end up facing someone considerably more competent.
Major Major Major Major
@SFAW: That was Bodhidharma, but close!
danielx
@Adam L Silverman:
It fits, all too well. Guy I know who is extremely knowledgeable about construction in NY/NJ told me much the same, on a more human level. Contractors hired to work on Trump projects who were proud and excited to work on such prestigious projects – hired people, bought equipment, did the work – and got stiffed. Trump knew that those he regarded as untermenschen were in no position to do anything in response lest they be buried in lawsuits and legal fees. He ruined a lot of peoples’ lives and businesses and went on his merry way without a thought.
seaboogie
@Adam L Silverman: I will relish a continued expose on Trump’s business dealings, and also invite you to speak (and look forward to hearing about same in the media) to that fact that Trump cannot receive the typical “potential transfer of power” security briefings because of Manafort’s nefarious connections, and Trump’s own volatility.
Suzanne
@lamh36: I agree with you. Dude doesn’t want this job. He wanted publicity and ego-stroking and he ended up winning and he’s going to drop out or make himself so awful that they find some way to nominate someone else. It would be funny if the consequences weren’t so horrible.
SFAW
@Adam L Silverman:
Good point. But it may be that he didn’t start pulling that crap until he became “big.” (Although, Fred was probably big enough to pull that crap with impunity.)
SFAW
@Major Major Major Major:
OK, thanks for the correction.
seaboogie
@SFAW: @Major Major Major Major:
Heeeeee…!!!
Thank ye kindly…gotta go light some candles and incense to purify this joint!
Jeff Spender
Rince thinks Trump just needs to change his words or some assorted nonsense.
patheos.com/blogs/dispatches/2016/06/06/priebus-trump-knows-he-needs-to-evolve-hispanic-rhetoric/?ut…
Ruckus
@Adam L Silverman:
Drinking was not allowed by the navy on board ship either. But I’ve seen it done. Also seen a lifer who stayed drunk enough to turn into a nice guy stay that way for almost 5 straight weeks at sea. That’s when he dried out and became a major asshole. Everyone wanted him to find a drink. Everyone.
Major Major Major Major
@seaboogie: I smoked a bowl of cavendish tobacco, so we’re even.
RK
And he can still win. God bless America.
Cathie from Canada
I loved this comment over at Lawyers Guns and Money:
lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2016/06/look-at-that-subtle-off-white-coloring-the-tasteful-thickness-of-it…
Raven Onthill
“I’ve got a sick, uneasy feeling.” A few more thoughts, here.
Hope I’m wrong!
Anne Laurie
@Adam L Silverman:
Going back to his emergence in the 80s, word was that Donald was careful not to pull this crap on people with the ability to fight back, ifyouknowwhatImeanandIthinkyoudo. Too lazy to google, but I remember a rumor that his old man Fred got athwart a minor connection of the not-Sopranos back in the early 1960s, and the resulting ‘lesson in manners’ led him to teach his sons it was better to steal pennies from powerless mooks than try to steal dollars from Men of Respect. Although in the NYC real-estate field, it shouldn’t have taken a personal demonstration to teach that lesson.
? Martin
Somehow I missed that one.
Origuy
Lindsey Graham is now urging other Republicans to withdraw their endorsement of Trump.
Major Major Major Major
@? Martin: Wow.
The WaPo boots me though, so I can’t read much.
? Martin
@Major Major Major Major: Gist of it is that Trumps dad was arrested at a KKK rally in Queens in the 20s, quite clearly as a Klansman. Trump when asked about it denies that the event happened or that his dad was involved or arrested, even though Fred Trump, with address listed, was clearly arrested per the newspaper. No question his dad was arrested at that event. Trump’s denial in spite of clear evidence is damning.
Major Major Major Major
@? Martin: Wow.
In a sane world, yes. We do not unfortunately live in one.
NotMax
@? Martin
Not clear at all. May or may not have been; the article tiptoes around the edges of such an assertion.
Per Snopes: “While it’s possible the elder Trump attended the event along with KKK supporters and Klansmen, it’s also possible he was minding his own business in his own neighborhood, and found himself in the middle of an enormous brawl.”
? Martin
@NotMax: Then why did Trump deny the event even took place, when he could have so easily given exactly that very explanation?
One of Trumps bigger character flaws is his inability to de-escalate a situation by conceding some insignificant element. When he does that, it sounds like a klaxon that he’s covering up for something not insignificant.
Villago Delenda Est
@efgoldman: When I was in Germany (early 1980s), not only were you paid in dollars, one of the key events each day was the DM rate for the next day, every day at 1400.
It drove a great deal of personal decision making.
NotMax
@? Martin
A bit more explication.
Nothing more of any note has seen the light of day since this was all written about last Feb./Mar., near as I can tell. Despicable event by a despicable group, but records still remain murky as to any direct participation by the elder Trump. All that is confirmed is that he was the only one of those arrested released without being charged.
NotMax
@? Martin
Not about to attempt to psychoanalyze the man (that way lies Bedlam), just saying your contention of the article being clear about it is not quite as cut and dry as you contend. Will certainly more than willingly concede that automatic, even unthinking, denial and obfuscation are his primary reactions to anything even vaguely negative.
As the arrest took place some 20 years before Donald was born, it’s possible (hypothesizing here) it’s dirty laundry the family never aired in front of him or sugarcoated if they did.
? Martin
@NotMax: Little too much fire here. Between Trumps own statements (remember, he was birther-in-chief), this, and the statements from his butler, I find it incredible the sheer number of racist coincidences that seem to befall this man.
TriassicSands
I’ve come to the conclusion that Trump is certifiably mentally ill.
satby
Ok, so Ramadan is going to be a serious personal challenge to me if I get awakened 2 hours before sunrise for the power eating that takes place and have to stay up extra late so more power eating can take place after the sun goes down. Especially since then people intend to sleep all day to get through the fast. That’s not so much a religious sacrifice as it is time shifting the day to night.
I’m now going to have to go all day on 4 hours of sleep and I’m pretty annoyed. Argh!
satby
Guess I can kill a few minutes going back and reading the thread.
NotMax
@ Martin
No love for Trump from me (no liking either), but tarring him for something that occurred well before he was born and which is a murky happening that can never be firmly resolved one way or the other is a bridge too far, IMHO.
Your bridges may vary.
More than enough uncontestable, weighty albatrosses to drape around his neck without constructing additional ones from swatches of innuendo.
SFAW
@? Martin:
I think you and NotMax are overlooking the blindingly obvious explanation re: Deadbeat Donnie’s not-unreasonable-no-not-at-all denial, to wit:
Barack Obama, using the same time machine which he used to alter the Honolulu papers ex post facto, used that same time machine to go back and alter all the newspapers which named Fred Trump and provided his “correct” address. In that way, he was able, yet again, to drag Deadbeat Donnie’s family name — the Best and Classiest name — through the mud. Will Obama stop at nothing to keep a good white man down?
Thanks, Obama?
Just One More Canuck
@Suzanne: I think his ego wont let him drop out now – if he wanted to drop out, he would just have his doctors say that he has a heart (I know, assuming facts not in evidence) condition – that might even create sympathy for him and by extension, whoever would replace him. If the party pushes him out, it could have the opposite effect and just piss off his supporters
Peale
@lamh36: ugh. Mentioning his name reminds me that the reason I know of him is because Herr Clinton brought him to the White House.
Jack the Second
@Mnemosyne:
“DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM???”
*long thoughtful exhalation, followed by an inquiring shrug*
“I’M DONALD TRUMP!!!”
“Trump, Trump, Trump… oh, didn’t I see you on TV?”
“YES!!!”
“Yeah, yeah, the used car commercials… *sing-song* ‘when your car is ready for the dump, come on down and see Donnie Trump’.”
Jack the Second
@Archon: My dream is that Trump reveals his persona is actually a stage persona a la Colbert, and he is ashamed that so many people gave their full throated endorsement and support to the caricature he created, and they should all go take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror.
Alas, there is to much supporting evidence that he is genuine.
SFAW
@Jack the Second:
I had that same hope/dream, a few months ago.
Then I was speaking with my brother, who lives in the NYC area. His response was, more or less “No, Trump is just an asshole. Who you see is who he is.”
It’s hard when dreams are crushed.
NickM
@Major Major Major Major: Fortunately, we don’t need the votes of the demographic who writes stuff like that on FB in order to win.
Miss Bianca
@Omnes Omnibus: Counselor, can I just say that I must have been even more out of it last night than I thought? I plead exhaustion, one too many glasses of Zinfandel, and group mind. Oh, and the 5th.
J R in WV
@NotMax:
Just maybe Fred was the only guy arrested with both the funds and the connections to see that the charges were not only dropped but even never filed at all. That’s how the really connected guys would want to fix it. No record hardly at all. Certainly no criminal record.
But you gotta have the connections AND the money.
justsomeguy
@cokane: I agree with you. On the other hand, perhaps he looked at “W” and realized he could delegate the Presidency to his Chief of staff and VP.