Did anyone see Colbert last night? The incredible shrinking Trump was on. He mentioned building a wall, but added that it will have “a big fat door.”
Colbert also asked if President Obama was born in America, and Trump said, “I don’t talk about that anymore,” and swerved back onto his scripted talking points about veterans. He’s done, people.
Today is the first day of fall. Yay! In my area, the high today is 90, but the long-term forecast does not mention a temperature in the 90s after today. Huzzah!
What’s up in your neck of the woods?
Germy Shoemangler
Mrs. Shoemangler was never a big muppets fan, but she laughed out loud during last night’s Muppets show. Fozzie meeting his human girlfriend’s hostile parents (Father at dinner: “What a surprise. He likes the salmon.”)
Germy Shoemangler
question for phone savvy balloonjuicers: Why does my old sprint phone sometimes not ring? If someone calls, sometimes it will ring and sometimes it will go straight to voicemail.
Yesterday I waited four hours for a call back from a plumber. Had the phone ON and next to me at all times. Suddenly it said “message received” and I got a voicemail from the plumber on the road. It never rang, and the voicemail was left about fifteen minutes before I got the alert.
WTF?
WereBear
Thanks to beloved commenter Germy Shoemangle:
Behold! The first BJ inspired cat post:
Dear Pammy, Is a cat circus abuse?
satby
I doubt Trump is done, his target audience isn’t watching Colbert and won’t believe anything that is reported on the media.
WereBear
@Germy Shoemangler: Happens to me all the time. Verizon?
SiubhanDuinne
On the road, driving to Chicago for a reunion with my brothers, sister, cousin and his wife, and sister’s granddaughter. While we see each other individually now and then, this will be the first time in over a decade that we’ve all been together at one time under the same roof. We’re going to revisit lots of favorite places from our childhood — including the site that was, for close to 40 years, our family’s book store, then became a gay bar for a while, and is now a Greek restaurant. Art Institute, Brookfield Zoo, possibly a Cubs game, a trip to the cemetery to say hello to the ancestors, and a celebration of the 70th birthdays of my cousin and twin brother and sister. Have a lot of road to cover today, so may not look in again until late tonight.
satby
@Germy Shoemangler: Some savvy phone users know how to send straight to voicemail when they don’t want to actually talk to someone but want to appear to be returning a call.
I had a former friend who played games like that.
debbie
@satby:
They’re not called Know Nothings for nothing.
Tenzil Kem
So, Scott Walker’s hair: Wouldn’t a decent barber be able to take what Walker’s got and turn it into something halfway respectable-looking?
satby
@SiubhanDuinne: safe travels! And welcome home to Sweet Home Chicago. If a B-J meet up gets discussed, send up a bat signal.
Germy Shoemangler
@WereBear: Spr1nt. They’re a nightmare to try to talk to, so I avoid it. Which apparently is their business plan.
Also, when I call the plumbing co., the main office takes my number and says “He’ll call you when he’s in your area” so I missed the call. And yet other times it will ring.
I don’t know who is worse at spr1nt: the people at their call center, or the sarcastic aholes who staff their retail stores.
They pulled the “water damage” trick with my son. His phone stopped working. Took it to their store. They went into a back room with it and then returned to announce they couldn’t replace it because of water damage. Bullshit. It was never near any moisture.
boatboy_srq
@Germy Shoemangler: Signal. Sometimes the phone doesn’t keep a connection to the network, and the call that would have come in instead goes to the (company, off-device) voicemail instead of the handset. As the circuitry ages this gets more frequent. When was the last time you restarted it? Most decent cellphone advice I’ve seen calls for daily bounces to refresh connections to the towers.
wuzzat
@Germy Shoemangler: Re: your phone: That usually happens because you’ve got shitty coverage in your area, and/or you’re in a dead spot.
I’ve been hesitant to watch the new Muppet show, but I might have to give it a try. If Trumpmentum is over, does that put Carson in the lead? There’s a part of me that would love for him to get the nomination, just to watch some racists’ heads explode.
Elizabelle
C-Span 1 is footage of White House lawn and crowds chanting. Beautiful day in DC. Blue skies.
Far prefer crowd noise and the Marine band to whatever pops into media personality’s head.
eta: blissful silence now. cspan does not aim to fill every minute
satby
@Germy Shoemangler: Ironically, I know several people who have dropped phones into water and been able to dry them out and keep using them. But the phones were off at the time.
Germy Shoemangler
@boatboy_srq: It’s an old phone. I charge it every morning. It’s not on all the time; only when I know I’m expecting a call.
boatboy_srq
What? The door won’t be yooge? I am disappoint.
Germy Shoemangler
@satby: There is a little tab inside the phone that turns purple if the phone was wet, thereby violating the warranty. But the phone was never near water. I googled it and found customer comments saying the same thing; that it’s a fraud to keep from replacing defective phones.
They’re as bad as the cable companies.
And yet the RW privateers always say how bad the DMV is, and how lousy government is, and we need business to solve all our problems… do they mean like spr1nt and C0mcast?
My local DMV is fine. Quick and efficient. My experience with captains of industry? Not so great.
SiubhanDuinne
@satby: I’m hoping for one, but until we all (family) sit down together and get a handle on what we’re doing when, I won’t know what to suggest. Still, it would be great to hear from other Chicago-area Juicers who might be interested.
I’ll check back on this thread — or maybe easier to email me at SiubhanDuinne (at) gmail (dot) com.
Staying in Oak Park, will be there about a week.
Morzer
I guess I am having deja vu all over again, because I could swear I’ve heard this before.
Cermet
As per another, the Baltimore/Washington weather is beyond perfect. Trying to last a few more days until I can finally see my dentist – not fun but well deserved.
benw
Does anyone even think Trump would govern if elected? I can easily see him wandering into the White House on his first day and pointing to the Obama staffers packing up their desks: “stay put, everyone! You’re doing a great job! Keep it up, you guys are great, baby!” And then wandering off to figure out how to get shiny, gold drapes hung on all the windows.
Elizabelle
Incidentally, the Moustache Of Understanding is out there today, not understanding.
He speaks of a new film about Yitzak Rabin’s assassination, coming to US screens. He decries the toxic atmosphere that gave rise to rightwing extremism there (yes, some fomented by Bibi).
Friedman uses the phrase “civic redlines” twice; talks a lot about redlines.
But he should be talking about uncivil red meat. Because it’s what Fox and the rightwing talk radio and think tanks have been spewing for years.
Memo to Friedman: Trump is not dragging his party anywhere. He has studied it, and is following it.
Trump and Carson are not originating these thoughts. They are repeating them back to the rightwing base, from which they sprang.
Friedman won’t talk about that. Everyone wants to act like Trump and Carson are anomalies, leading America astray.
They are a mirror to a part of America that Friedman and Very Serious People do not want to see.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Depends on what his goal is (and assumes he knows what that is). He was never gonna be president. the nomination was a long shot, but he can still make a lot of trouble. And he seems to hate Jeb?. A lot.
It was interesting watching him try to be humble and down-to-earth for the first couple minutes. And he said “the last six years” have been terrible, and then when into a rant about the Iraq War.
I just hope Colbert has filled his asshole profile for a while. It arguably would have been more interesting to give one segment to Trump and two to Moniz
Patricia Kayden
@Germy Shoemangler: Was tempted to watch The Muppet revamp but ended up watching Scream Queens instead. It’s a silly but funny romp about a devil-costumed killer in a college. Love that Jamie Lee Curtis is in it (and Keke Palmer).
Steeplejack
@SiubhanDuinne:
Happy trails!
Chris
@Elizabelle:
I suppose I should be grateful that he’s not comparing OWS and BLM to the Rabin assassin.
Patrick ii
I watched part of the Trump interview and I was so embarrassed for the country that I could not stand it. I had to look away so I switched channels . Strangely enough in the part I did watch I felt embarrassed for Trump too because what he was saying was so inane the audience is laughing . He looked a bit surprised he hadn’t heard that reaction before.
benw
@Elizabelle: Yep, and the Very Serious orthodoxy is that the nice, moderate heartland Republicans of America will wake up Any Day Now and realize how their innocent, wise, honest voters have been fooled by that mean meany Trump.
Ajabu
@satby:
About a year ago my wife dropped her iPhone in the bathtub, She was in the tub and talking on it when it happened.
I assumed it was history but a quick trip to Teh Google recommended: dry it as best you can, fill a plastic bag with rice,
leave the phone in the rice bag for 24-48 hours. Worked good as new the next day!
bystander
Proving New Yorkers like thin crust and not that Chicago-style doughfest.
Takes a beating on those stairs.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone :)
RK
Trump is playing the rubes and it’s quite despicable. Sanders/Pope Francis 2016!
rikyrah
RIP, Yogi.
Thanks, Mr. Berra.
rikyrah
Looking at C-Span. Ethel Kennedy is right there, front row, with the Veep, Dr. Biden and Sec. Kerry.
Mark B.
After watching the Colbert interview, the adjective I’d use to describe Trump would be ‘slippery.’ He didn’t let Steven nail him down to anything. He was pretty glib, but there’s no substance behind the glibness.
It’s pretty cool that Colbert had on the US negotiator of the Iran treaty, who was pretty smart and surprisingly good in front of the camera. And he had terrific hair.
Chris
@benw:
I call this Arnie Vinick Syndrome. Believing that somewhere in America is a critical mass of Moderate Republicans who are just waiting to emerge, take back the party, and restore sanity and compassion to American politics. It’s related to the “only government by Republicans is legitimate” and “center right nation” ideas beloved of Beltway pundits, that most of them would rather sit around waiting for this mythical Republican savior to emerge than acknowledge the moderates in the other party that’re right in front of their face.
Morzer
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I don’t think Trump hates Jeb!. He seems to think of him as weak and stupid, so despises him, but I suspect Trump only hates those who have made him look ridiculous and Jeb! hasn’t come close to laying a glove on him.
patrick II
And the non-wingnut audience laughed at him. That’s what will kill him in the long run.
some guy
Trump’s not done, not by a long shot. IMHO, he’s going all the way to the convention, and he will most likely have a majority of delegates. His ugliness sells to the base, and as Carson and Fiorina begin to fade their supporters will move over to The Donald. couldn’t happen to a nicer party.
Morzer
@patrick II:
It might help him with the angry old white people though. They seem to spend a lot of time obsessing about being laughed at by metropolitan hipster elites.
Chris
@Morzer:
For that reason, I do believe Trump hates Obama.
some guy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
that was partly my takeaway, how he eviscerated the Bush disaster that is Iraq. two trillion wasted, thousands of American casualties, thousands more injured vets, “For what? For nothing!” His contempt for W’s Most Malodorous Adventure was palpable. The leading GOP candidate publicly trashing the last GOP President and his minions, you just don’t see enough of that on TV.
Applejinx
@Mark B.: Really! Interesting.
Also predictable. If Trump didn’t get pinned by Colbert, it’s because he knew where he was, what the audience was like, and had a basic functional ability to adapt his presentation to the environment.
It does make me wonder if he’d really put across all the ‘wingnut red meat’ if elected President. Perhaps not, which just goes to show he’s the least crazy (and most manipulative) of all the Rs.
Him treading carefully on Colbert is not Trump being done. It’s Trump being serious, which is interesting to observe. Unlike Bush et al, Trump knew exactly what Colbert’s old schtick was, and knows to be wary.
PaulW
Support your local library!
SiubhanDuinne
The Vatican’s national anthem is longer than the SSB.
Jeffro
@Elizabelle: In all fairness – ech, even to The Mustache – he does say it will ‘play well with certain voters’, tacitly acknowledging that it’s not just Carson and Trump as individuals. He could do a better job/go further/grow a spine and say ‘play well with a large portion of the GOP base’ of course.
Elizabelle
This Vatican anthem is a snooze. Sounds vaguely nautical.
Poor Francis, if he has to stand through it, over and over.
Morzer
@Chris:
That I have no doubt of. It’s one of the few things I feel absolutely certain about in the whole Trump dérèglement de tous les sens.
ThresherK
@Germy Shoemangler: I had more taste for the movies, inasmuch as they were able to go for the subtle and adult humor, than the last few years of The Muppet Show.
Didn’t know what to expect. The opening caught me, where amidst all the chatter of a show-within-the-show production meeting, one of the band stirred out of a half-stupor at hearing the word meeting and recited “My name is Floyd, and I’m an…” before a bandmate cut him off.
I will watch a few episodes; this looks promising.
Betty Cracker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
That’s a good point, as is Some Guy’s above that Trump went out of his way to trash GWB’s reign of error. I hope Trump sticks around to gum up the works some more. But it seems like he suddenly started taking himself seriously and is now watching what he says, which is throwing away his greatest strength with the rubes.
Sometimes I still wonder if Trump and Bill Clinton aren’t perpetrating a gigantic hoax and an epic trolling. It would be so cool if so.
Jeffro
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I still think at least half Trump’s motivation for running was to derail Jeb! I can certainly see the Big Dog whispering in Trump’s ear about that being a great reason to get in there and stir things up on the GOP side.
OzarkHillbilly
@Germy Shoemangler: Happens to me all the time (at&t) but I live in a cell hole (no cell towers for miles and miles). Atmospherics decides whether I get a signal or not and change minute by minute.
Jeffro
@Betty Cracker: OMG, great minds and all that…=)
SiubhanDuinne
No C-Span at this hotel, so I have to put up with noisy intrusive commenters. I’d mute it, but I actually want to hear what Pope and POTUS have to say. (Yes, I am delaying my departure until the ceremonies are over.)
Tom
@Germy Shoemangler: If it’s an iPhone and you’ve set “Do Not Disturb”, anyone not on your VIP list will go straight to voice mail.
I had that problem when I first got my iPhone.
DanR2
Would have been interesting to watch Trump squirm if Colbert had pressed him about what exactly he planned to do to help “vets” other than hiding behind them every time he gets a tough question.
Tom
@benw: And this makes him different from other Republicans how?
Ruckus
Betty
The next 5-6 days show upper 90s here. Last days of summer my ass.
Patricia Kayden
@some guy: Hope you’re right. Our side would be greatly aided by a Trump candidacy. I cannot see any Democratic voters being attracted to him at all (except Manchin supporters).
cmorenc
@Betty Cracker:
In a world where Trump’s supporters were more rational folks, your conclusion that “he’s done, people” might bear more weight. However, repeatedly over the past few weeks, various supposedly knowledgeable commentators have pronounced this or that event (e.g. blood and Megan Kelley) was a sign of Trump’s soon-impending implosion, yet the only implosion that followed was egg on the commentators’ faces as Trump’s supporters ratcheted up their enthusiasm for him yet one more notch.
Trump will only be dead when Jeb! or some other GOP establishment candidate can actually stick a fork in his rotting entrails, and not because Trump once again has demonstrated he’s full of shit. Remember: so are his followers.
Oatler.
.” If you ask me anything I don’t know, I’m not going to answer.”- Yogi Berra
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne: Where are you today, SD? Happy trails!
Are you seeing any change of leaf color, or too early?
OzarkHillbilly
@some guy: Trump was done before he began. I doubt he makes it to Iowa.
Elizabelle
Obama hit a lot of the points rightwingers were concerned about. Christians in peril; people unable to gather to practice their faith.
The pope’s English is charming.
bystander
I thought the POTUS showed his usual restraint. Like when he acknowledged the work of Catholic charities in Kenya, he didn’t say a word about Kenya being his homeland. Same way he represses saying, “Allahu Akbar” at the end of his speech. Remarkable.
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle:
Am in Franklin, KY, and will hit the road as soon as the ceremonies are done. Should arrive in Oak Park right around cocktail time.
Not much in the way of leaf-peeping so far — just an occasional lone and startling blaze of color among all the unturned green. But I expect it will become a little more vibrant the further north I go, and by the time I head back next week there may be a lot more, if not yet quite peak.
yellowdog
@some guy: I’m inclined to believe that Trump has topped out. But that doesn’t mean he will not get a significant number of delegates. It depends on the each state’s rules. For example, I read that in 2012 Santorum won caucus night in Iowa but got zero delegates at the state nominating convention. And it depends on whether delegates are allotted to the one who gets the most votes (which may be Trump in a lot of states) or proportionally. And the GOP PTB are trying to game (or modify) the state rules to minimize the Trump effect. We shall see.
Jeffro
@cmorenc: One of my biggest fears is that when Trump finally does quit he will automatically make the remaining candidates appear that much more palatable at least to GOP voters and possibly some independents.
I hope that this is countered by a large number of Trump and Carson supporters staying home next November in anger at the GOP establishment. I know that in the past they have tended to come home and support the parties nominee but I think this time will be different, at least by a few percentage points
Betty Cracker
@cmorenc: The Villagers declared Trump over because he said things they perceived as too outrageous for a presidential candidate to say. Their conclusion was based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the GOP base. The base ate that outrageous shit up with a spoon!
My prediction is based on the exact opposite: I’m saying that Trump is over because he’s apparently stopped saying the outrageous shit that made the base notice him in the first place. I’m not saying he’ll quit tomorrow. He’ll coast along on money and notoriety for awhile. But I don’t see how he succeeds long-term if he persists in throwing away his greatest strength.
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle:
He is a sweetie.
SFAW
@Elizabelle:
… “Allahu akbar,” to make the President feel more at home?
Mike J
@Elizabelle:
I’m sure they’ll find something to be offended by.
RK
@yellowdog: I linked to a NYT article on that the other day. The GOP changed the rules and it may come back to bite them.
benw
@Tom: The other Republican candidates’ drapes would not be gold.
debbie
I seem to fall asleep before Colbert’s guests come in, but I did like the bit he did on Walker and the Hunger Games.
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne: I love Kentucky. It’s a beautiful state.
Drive safe out there!
Steve in the ATL
@Germy Shoemangler:
Same here, and I make a point of telling the DMV clerks that whenever I’m in there
Chris
@cmorenc:
I suppose the point is that it’s precisely because his supporters are so irrational that this is a point against him. They wanted to see him go “no, of course not!” or at least “if he was born here, shouldn’t he show us the REAL real long form birth certificate?”
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle:
So many beautiful states. So many wingnuts inhabiting them.
RK
Don’t bet on it if Hillary Clinton is the nominee.
benw
@Chris: Trump really is exposing the pundits badly. Elizabelle and others have pointed out that the NYT in particular in getting more brazen than ever trying to cover for this year’s Republican candidates. I can’t tell if they’re frantic because they’ve known all along they’re providing moderate cover for extremists or that they’ve been clueless and are just now realizing who they’ve been legitimizing all along. The usual evil vs. stupid divide, basically.
boatboy_srq
@Chris:
THIS.
The myth of the Moderate Republican is especially rich given that the GOTea has spent the last three decades chasing out anyone remotely moderate. There’s only the reactionaries and the b#tsh!t-crazy who remain. I’ve lost track of the number of normally-conservative Republican incumbents who’ve been unseated by wingnuts convinced that bipartisanship and negotiation are dirty words and that the only way for their goals to be achieved is all-reactionary-all-the-time-turned-up-to-11. The only thing that still mystifies me is what besides their paychecks causes the VSPs to continue to believe in this particular unicorn.
shell
I wanna cry. Yogi Berra died
Gin & Tonic
@shell: He was 90. He’d lived a long and fulfilling life, and was loved and admired my a great many people. You could do a lot worse.
SFAW
@Betty Cracker:
I had been contemplating that possibility for awhile – it seemed like a reasonable possibility.
Then, a few days ago, spoke to my brother (lives near NYC, is fairly astute, politically), ran that by him. Having watched/seen Trump in action for a number of years, he thinks the idea of Trump trolling the Rethugs is highly unlikely. Maybe not as unlikely as Cheney having an ounce of humanity in his body, but …
I think it would be good fun if that’s what Trump were doing, but I’m no longer entertaining that theory.
On the other hand, I am neither a highly-paid nor highly-respected Beltway pundit (nor is my brother), so what do I know?
HinTN
@Germy Shoemangler: If reception is low 3G our below that happens all the time.
Patrick
@Germy Shoemangler:
Since the government is so lousy, I take it they want to privatize our military (since the military is part of the government).
BTW – BP is a private company that cause that huge oil spill a couple of years.
ago. So much for business solving all our problems.
The whole argument about business being better than government is such a garbage argument. We get the government we deserve. The more you fund the government, the better it will perform (like our military).
SFAW
I see it slightly differently: his followers already knows where he stands on this (or think they do); this statement was based on his knowing that his (TV) audience would include a shitload of not-insane persons, and thus did not want to come across as a loon to the more-rational. In other words, it may be that he thinks he’s sewed up the 27-percenters (plus whatever else it takes to get the nom), and now he’s “reaching across the aisle” to the non-insane ones.
SFAW
@Patrick:
Unfortunately, too many people believe otherwise.
Elizabelle
FWIW, Michelle Obama looked gorgeous. Loved her black (?) dress with lace sleeves. Very elegant.
Germy Shoemangler
Carly’s ex-husband speaks up: “She’s the ultimate clown”
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2015/09/quote-day-carlys-ex-doesnt-think-much-her-chances
Joel
Predictions are difficult, especially about the future.
Elizabelle
WaPost website front page, AP story by Frazier Moore:
RK
Trump, Carson, Fiorina voters are angry at a corrupt system they see as working against their interests. In that regard, I respect them.
Betty Cracker
@SFAW: I think you’re exactly right — that’s what he’s doing. I don’t think it will work, though. It’ll just make him look diminished and weak.
Cervantes
@Germy Shoemangler:
Wasn’t it Skeeter Davis who addressed that very question in a song?
WaterGirl
@Germy Shoemangler: I second the suggestion to completely turn off your phone once a day and then turn it back on. That’s what it takes for the old phones to adjust to tower changes.
Happened to me on my old flip phone years ago, and Verizon told me that was the way to resolve that issue.
Van Buren
@Germy Shoemangler: My phone does that too, but only when one particular friend calls. Since he usually is calling to ask me if I want to go do something fun, I find this rather annoying.
FlipYrWhig
@RK:
You give them too much credit. Mostly they’re angry that they have to push one for English and that store signs in December say “holidays” instead of “Christmas.”
Karen
@Morzer:
1. Isn’t hate and despise the same thing?
2. Wouldn’t you say that SC made Trump look like an idiot so he’d hate SC?
KXB
@SiubhanDuinne:
The weather in Chicago for the past couple of weeks has been quite good. It’s 71 at 10:00 AM. If you planned to stop by Buckingham Fountain today, you might be out of luck. They are turning it off today, and it will not be back on until spring.
Brachiator
@benw:
Yeah. It’s too bad that Trump is such a shiteheel because I almost would like to see what kind of team he would put together. He brought over some of his people in the first episodes of The Apprentice, and it was clear that they were not simply “yes people” who sucked up to him. But he inevitably had ego problems with one of his women advisors who gained her on TV following, and replaced her on the show with his daughter.
So inevitably, he would probably fire everybody about half way into his term.
And realistically, I don’t think he knows enough as he should about either domestic or foreign policy, and he could not learn enough fast enough. In a crisis he would be a disaster.
Frankensteinbeck
@Elizabelle:
Even here, way too many people don’t want to admit the obvious – Trump went from nobody to front runner by saying Mexicans are rapists and murderers. Defying policy orthodoxy hasn’t touched him. This is about the base’s craving for hardcore racism, nothing else.
Following that, yes, I think wishy-washy comments will hurt him, but he has plenty of time to feed his followers another dose of white supremacy.
And yeah, the media will do absolutely anything but accept that the Republican policies they themselves love are racist dog whistles.
@Morzer:
Maybe. You’re right that’s a thing. Witness how they rallied around Bush when we laughed at ‘nukyuler.’
@cmorenc:
I think it’s almost exactly the opposite. Almost. They can’t kill Trump. They’ve tried. Trump might, probably will destroy himself, although Hell if I really know it’ll happen anymore. But what will never kill Trump in the primary is the bigoted shit the Villagers keep thinking will be a step too far.
Brachiator
@Joel:
Sounds just like something that Yogi Berra might say.
RIP, Yogi man.
Applejinx
@Elizabelle: Rare grace, huh?
Like I said. This is Trump doing better, not worse. He’s perfectly aware there are situations where he’s not there to throw red meat to wingnuts. He’s capable of modulating his presentation.
This, I think, is a shot across the bows of the ‘as soon as anyone laughs at him, he’ll rage and his hair will fly off and he’ll be done’. Apparently no, he will not, so don’t count on that.
Chris
@benw:
I’d really like to think that this will finally kill the “liberal media” myth, but I suspect not – people will just figure it proves the media is in the tank for the RINO Establishment and trying to kill a good True Conservative Patriot.
@boatboy_srq:
And the GOTea rarely if ever gets any pushback from the media in its attempt to purge the Republican Party of moderates. Instead, we hear about how Obama just provoked these people by insufficiently reaching across the aisle.
Chris
@SFAW:
One of the nasty latent effects of the Reagan Revolution; I think there are fewer and fewer people who believe in the “business is more efficient than government” garbage, but not necessarily any more people who believe that government can be efficient, more of a “plague on both your houses” thing.
Another Holocene Human
@Chris: There’s a total disrespect for expertise, as well. Maybe it’s American anti-intellectualism. I can think of some distinct realms where experts fucked up really, really badly, sure. But most of the time experts are far superior. You just don’t realize it when they save your bacon. The house that didn’t burn down because an electrician wired it. The computer systems that didn’t go kablooey because some “dinosaur” Fortran programmers fixed them.
Paul in KY
@Betty Cracker: Oh, I think he has a few more outrageous things up there somewhere.
Paul in KY
@Brachiator: Probably my favorite Yankee. A good man.
Chris
@Another Holocene Human:
Yeah, and conservatives exploit that to the hilt. It’s been a recurring MO of theirs to set up parallel communities of politically vetted “experts” whose job is to say what they want to hear. Right wing thinks tanks and right wing media are probably the two most blatant examples.
Elie
@Applejinx:
No, he will not fly off the handle cause he has to figure out an exit strategy that keeps his ego and rep intact for future grifting. Trump cannot afford to look as though he was pushed or intimidated out and he has to watch his health also. He can’t just walk away without facing accusations of not having been serious and just wanking his followers. He is having to manage this candidacy that he may have entered as a lark without much thought. but he is too far in now to just stop and how he gets out matters for this thin skinned narcissist. I am totally convinced that he does not want to be President. He just has to figure out how to drop out without damaging all this great lucre he has built.
nominus
I-
well, that –
nah, I don’t know what to say.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/646716373473853442
SFAW
@Betty Cracker:
I’m thinking he’ll keep throwing plenty of red meat, in relatively controlled settings, to the 27-percenters, which will get him to the nom. Meanwhile, in situations where it’s guaranteed to have a not-insane viewing audience – like Colbert – he’ll be playing the long game, so that people that don’t like Hillary can say “See? He’s not a TOTAL wingnut! He has some rational positions!” as a way to assuage their consciences when they vote for him in the General. Assuming there are people like that, I place them about on the same level as Saint Ralph the Pure, and with Ralphie Baby’s still-staunch defenders.
I really hope I am wrong.
Morzer
@Karen:
No and no. Hating someone is a whole level of malice above simply thinking that they are an idiot/loser etc. Sure, we don’t generally feel anything positive towards those we despise, but quite often we just leave them alone and turn away. Hatred is a more active emotion, with a desire to its recipient actual harm if possible. Trump has no reason to feel badly towards Colbert – they got on just fine.
mclaren
I’d suggest that the Trump Wall will have gold trim, but that would just be gilt by association.
jacel
@Elizabelle: Yes, that sort of public event coverage on CSPAN is a joy.
I’ll always remember watching that channel for Clinton’s second inauguration day. The camera would be somewhere, patiently waiting as your eyes and ears, taking in something like a parade coming closer and unfolding. One of the most touching moments was early on when the camera came to and waited by a small door outside the White House. A small fife and drum group marched up and waited. Then the president opened a door, stepped out, and they started playing music, possibly just for the pleasure of him and the CSPAN viewership.
I’m sure it’s outside the CSPAN charter, but I’d love to see them broadcast the Pasadena Rose Parade in their own manner.
bupalos
Just got to see Colbert. The idea that this dialing down will sink him is completely foreign to me. He’s playing it like a fiddle, and I think dialing it down will work for the current game-theory purpose. To me, the tell here was that he tried and came really close to sneaking through the idea that Colbert had said some nice things about him before. This was in the context of Colbert trying to remind him of how badly he had insulted trump. I seriously didn’t know how he would get past this interview clean because Colbert is a killer. In the end I think he got most of what he wanted out of it.
I believe he has enough crazy support already to stay afloat until the endgame, and I don’t think it’s going anywhere. The endgame features maybe 5 candidates tops, BUT the more the better for Trump’s purposes, and as it stands now, he seriously could win it simply by paying say 20 million dollars to 2 or 3 extra candidates to see their loser campaigns through to the end. I mean direct money to the individual for speaking fees at the golf courses of conference centers or whatever in 2017, Cash money to private individuals, not pac money.That’s money much better spent than on regular campaigning, and, if you haven’t noticed, “billionaire” Trump has (brilliantly) spent nearly 0 on regular campaigning.
The block he already has now is solid, it doesn’t need to be further baited, and its enough to win if things stay divided. He’s firmly established himself as the candidate that hates ‘the way things are’ the most. That’s not changing. In fact, the other candidates (like Bush, who amazingly has suffered more at the hands of Colbert than Trump in the past few days) will help him with that. All he has to do is keep the field from coalescing around an anti-trump, and at this point, laying low can help that happen.by reducing the number of “anything but Trump” rightwing voters. Personally I think his pivot point here is perfectly chosen. He will probably drop marginally in the polls, but he’ll be there at the end, and it very well may be up to him if he wants the nomination at that point. I’m still not sure he does, I think he probably knows he can’t beat any democrat in a general, doesn’t want to be a loser, and republicans will pay him to give their loser election back to them. And there are a lot of ways to pay DT.
But I seriously think if he wants the Republican nomination, he could have it. I think Walker was paid to drop out and to urge others to drop out. This will become a theme, people dropping out and specifically citing the need to get the number down. But the game theory is in Trump’s favor on this. The fewer candidates, the higher the marginal value of the quitting for the next candidate up. At some point, that’s a chaotic bidding war where people start overestimating their own value.
bupalos
Let me put that another way. I’m reading most of the opinions here and feeling like people do not get how nuts-and-bolts concrete Donald Trump is. Trump does not hate Mexicans. Trump does not care about foreign policy. Trump does not have any policy objectives.
There are two plausible options to why Trump is running. One is that he is gaming the thing to hold the Republican party hostage and get a big multi-hundred-million dollar payout. The other is that his ego was truly so injured by Obama telling jokes about him that he wants some kind of ego revenge. Neither requires him to go into a general election I don’t think.
Morzer
@mclaren:
Terry Pratchett did it better, mc.
Marjowil
@some guy: True, but he never indicated it was W responsible. He complained about “the last six year” and then talked about Iraq as though Obama did it.
Anoniminous
test – ignore