Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally Posted by LessinSF

So, this is what I think Wonk was getting at - http://theweek.com/articles/615382/h...litany-scandal . And I get y'alls point - we should pull the lever for Mussolini.

That's some weak-ass shit. His first two examples of being "on both sides of the issue" are:

"Is abortion a "sad, and even tragic choice" that should be "rare" or should nothing stand in the way of a woman's "right to choose"? Do we need to lock up repeat offenders for life, or do #BlackLivesMatter?"



There is no contradiction between saying that abortion is a sad and tragic choice, that should be rare, and that it is a choice that a woman should be entirely free to make. The first is a personal feeling, the second is a policy position, there is no contradiction between the two, and it precisely reflects my views. On abortion, and on suicide, as well. (Also on things like being a member of the Tea Party.)


Nor is there a contradiction between the policies of locking repeat offenders up for life and supporting the BlackLivesMatter movement. Perhaps the author thinks that all black people are repeat offenders; that's about the only thing that would explain his professed confusion. This leaves aside that, while Clinton has certainly softened a bit on the three-strikes-type position, she is hardly alone in this country for having done so.


There are a number of other examples I could point to. Certainly she was in favor of the Iraq war, and now admits that was a mistake -- but admitting a mistake is a bit different than being on both sides of an issue.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by LessinSF

So, this is what I think Wonk was getting at - http://theweek.com/articles/615382/h...litany-scandal . And I get y'alls point - we should pull the lever for Mussolini.

I know the theory is that continually repeating bullshit makes it stick, but clearly the Citizens United / Issa smear artists missed the key ingredient in their cocktail of bullshit and venom: they didn't need to pay millions to get it repeated, they just needed Bernie Sanders repeating it to millions.

[Ty@50]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

I know the theory is that continually repeating bullshit makes it stick, but clearly the Citizens United / Issa smear artists missed the key ingredient in their cocktail of bullshit and venom: they didn't need to pay millions to get it repeated, they just needed Bernie Sanders repeating it to millions.

No. Trust me. Each of you, do whatever you can do to stop Hillary. Trump would have been a cake walk compared to what she wrought.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Ty@50

No. Trust me. Each of you, do whatever you can do to stop Hillary. Trump would have been a cake walk compared to what she wrought.

How come you're using a nostalgia sock for this?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

How come you're using a nostalgia sock for this?

Not yet, dude.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

How come you're using a nostalgia sock for this?

Good point. Ty is probably using that photo as a glamor shot.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

How come you're using a nostalgia sock for this?

Oppsieee

[Not Bob]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

How come you're using a nostalgia sock for this?

More importantly, doesn't the moniker need to be updated?

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Not Bob

More importantly, doesn't the moniker need to be updated?

2 things, check the newest poster. And congrats you are the first person to ever whiff on a ggg post.

[Not Bob]

Regarding the polls discussion the other day, this article from Pravda (I had a political theory professor only half-jokingly use that for the NYT) makes the point I was going for - national numbers are what matter. It's state by state to get to 270.

Of course, I think it's way too early even for this sort of analysis to be anything other than a rough blueprint for a candidate's strategy. It allows them to say "Where should I consider focusing my efforts?" but is otherwise not really meaningful.

[Not Bob]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

2 things, check the newest poster. And congrats you are the first person to ever whiff on a ggg post.

Yay! What do I win?

[Not Bob's Id]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

Daily posts that all look/sound the same get more views if there are titties involved, or so NotBob told me

"Titties"? Have you forgotten that Not Bob is really more of a hair guy?

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Sidd Finch

There are a number of other examples I could point to. Certainly she was in favor of the Iraq war, and now admits that was a mistake -- but admitting a mistake is a bit different than being on both sides of an issue.

As if changing one's mind is a bad thing.

The "scandals" are pretty weak shit too.

[SEC_Chick]

So here's the weekend update regarding the weekend developments in the GOP primary.

Tennessee: Trump won 39% of the vote in Tennessee, and was awarded 57% of the state’s delegate total. Most delegates were voted on and elected by name as part of the voting process. The remainder are “at large” – which means selected by the state party but bound to vote for a given candidate in the first round of voting. They are not bound in any subsequent round of voting, so you would think that Trump would have an interest in getting his people in and having a decent working relationship with the Tennessee GOP. But the campaign has instead acted as their candidate and been rather insulting towards the TN GOP. Perhaps in response, some of the at large delegates bound to Trump are pretty much straight up NeverTrumpers, and will definitively not be voting for him on a subsequent ballot. In retaliation, the Trump campaign asked its supporters to crash an executive meeting of the state GOP this weekend and Trumplings responded, complete with death threats against TN GOP members. Who could have guessed that being a jackass to people can have consequences? The delegate selection phase is where the Trump campaign should be learning this lesson, but they clearly are not.

North Dakota: The 25 North Dakota delegates were elected this weekend, and while they are all officially unbound, all but 6 were on the Ted Cruz slate. The remaining 6 delegates were people like the Governor and his wife, and a couple with unknown allegiance. But it appears a shutout for Trump, and at least 20 of the delegates are solid Cruz or at least NeverTrump.

Arizona: It seems the Cruz campaign is the only one that has been active at the Arizona delegate elections to ensure the 58 elected delegates are not Trump supporters. Cruz supporters are, of course, preferred, but the most important thing is that while they are bound on the first ballot, the will not vote for Trump on any subsequent ballot. Those delegate elections are happening now, so we will find out later this month how many of the 58 delegates Trump will retain after the first ballot. Cue up more Trump whining about stolen delegates due his failure to acknowledge that this whole thing has rules, and Trump’s crap campaign manager is doing a crap job at following them.

Wisconsin will be a lock for Cruz tomorrow and I am now pretty confident Trump won't win on the first ballot. After last week it seems the establishment types who hate Cruz are finally coming to the conclusion he would not be worse for the party than Trump. I am still fearful they'll try somebody crazy, but Reince Priebus promises the nominee will be someone running for president, FWIW.

I watched the first half of the Libertarian debate televised on Friday (the rest will be this week). As it turns out Gary Johnson lost some points. It was entertaining to watch crazy weirdo/antivirus software pioneer/person of interest in a murder/extradited to the US John McAfee, especially on tech issues, but he hid the insanity well for an hour. My new second choice to Cruz is 35 year old Austin Peterson, who came off a bit too polished, like a Marco-bot, but is a pro-life libertarian.

I still think on the long chance that Trump is the nominee, I am interested in the idea of Rick Perry running 3rd party. He would only need to get on the ballot in Texas, and while he wouldn't win the presidency or maybe even win TX, he would sure as heck keep the TX electoral college votes out of Trump's tiny, stubby-fingered hands.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by SEC_Chick

So here's the weekend update regarding the weekend developments in the GOP primary.

Tennessee: Trump won 39% of the vote in Tennessee, and was awarded 57% of the state’s delegate total. Most delegates were voted on and elected by name as part of the voting process. The remainder are “at large” – which means selected by the state party but bound to vote for a given candidate in the first round of voting. They are not bound in any subsequent round of voting, so you would think that Trump would have an interest in getting his people in and having a decent working relationship with the Tennessee GOP. But the campaign has instead acted as their candidate and been rather insulting towards the TN GOP. Perhaps in response, some of the at large delegates bound to Trump are pretty much straight up NeverTrumpers, and will definitively not be voting for him on a subsequent ballot. In retaliation, the Trump campaign asked its supporters to crash an executive meeting of the state GOP this weekend and Trumplings responded, complete with death threats against TN GOP members. Who could have guessed that being a jackass to people can have consequences? The delegate selection phase is where the Trump campaign should be learning this lesson, but they clearly are not.

North Dakota: The 25 North Dakota delegates were elected this weekend, and while they are all officially unbound, all but 6 were on the Ted Cruz slate. The remaining 6 delegates were people like the Governor and his wife, and a couple with unknown allegiance. But it appears a shutout for Trump, and at least 20 of the delegates are solid Cruz or at least NeverTrump.

Arizona: It seems the Cruz campaign is the only one that has been active at the Arizona delegate elections to ensure the 58 elected delegates are not Trump supporters. Cruz supporters are, of course, preferred, but the most important thing is that while they are bound on the first ballot, the will not vote for Trump on any subsequent ballot. Those delegate elections are happening now, so we will find out later this month how many of the 58 delegates Trump will retain after the first ballot. Cue up more Trump whining about stolen delegates due his failure to acknowledge that this whole thing has rules, and Trump’s crap campaign manager is doing a crap job at following them.

Wisconsin will be a lock for Cruz tomorrow and I am now pretty confident Trump won't win on the first ballot. After last week it seems the establishment types who hate Cruz are finally coming to the conclusion he would not be worse for the party than Trump. I am still fearful they'll try somebody crazy, but Reince Priebus promises the nominee will be someone running for president, FWIW.

I watched the first half of the Libertarian debate televised on Friday (the rest will be this week). As it turns out Gary Johnson lost some points. It was entertaining to watch crazy weirdo/antivirus software pioneer/person of interest in a murder/extradited to the US John McAfee, especially on tech issues, but he hid the insanity well for an hour. My new second choice to Cruz is 35 year old Austin Peterson, who came off a bit too polished, like a Marco-bot, but is a pro-life libertarian.

I still think on the long chance that Trump is the nominee, I am interested in the idea of Rick Perry running 3rd party. He would only need to get on the ballot in Texas, and while he wouldn't win the presidency or maybe even win TX, he would sure as heck keep the TX electoral college votes out of Trump's tiny, stubby-fingered hands.

It is sad to see cases like this, where parents come to hate their progeny.

But thanks for the update.

On the dem side, Bernie's people are becoming insufferable. Tad Devine knows the rules for these things better than anyone - he is a total pro. But the modus operandi is whine about Democracy if you lose any kind of delegate race but crow about success when your operatives win a round (as they did in Nevada, so Nevada's Bernie delegation will be greater than the original election would have suggested).