Last nights special election in Ohio if not for the Green Party’s whacked out candidate, Joe Manchik. I watched video of the guy and it was like an Un-Funny Seth Rogen Bit. He definitely owns a dry herb vaporizer and is the most stoned person currently on earth if you’ve seen him try to express himself. Useless as a politician, but probably an unwitting pawn of Putin. i say unwitting because I think Putin’s too professional to let this fake know anything. I mean- look at the guy! He claims to speak 19 languages including Esperanto and Sheet Music! COME ON! If you voted for this guy its time to think over your views. Did you see him at all? He’s nuts.
In an official campaign skype conference with some sort of ‘media’ in a supposed bid to be a congressman? ThisHAS to be Putin Punk-ing us!
Unwitting Kremlin asset Joe Manchik
The Ohio 12th Congressional, ruby-red for all but 4 years since 1935, is too close to call a full day out. The Republican guy, Balderson, ran as a Trumpist and even said some stupid stuff about the character of people from a part of his own district. One of the most disturbing Trump rallies yet was even in play to help Balderson out but he couldn’t put it away. He currently has a lead about 1,700 votes over my fellow Irish American Democrat, Danny O’Connor.
Quick cultural note- Dont look for O’Connor to back off on a recount. When Irish people get angry or lose in a competition we feel slighted in; we fight back, hard. The pipes havent played for Danny Boy O’Connor yet. He may still prevail.
The Green Party- Sketchy Spoilers
Unqualified Green Party weird Joe Manchik picked up 1,127 votes
In a race separated so the few votes siphoned off by the Green Party are probably gonna end up determining what happens, really hurting the Left again. It’s a consistent pattern since they gave us George W Bush, the loser of the actual election and started to make this dangerous stuff look normal. It’s not normal. The Green candidate proves that in this election more than ever.
We Can’t allow these flakey likely traitors play spoiler anymore. I’ve rescued one Green already. He’s happy with The Working Families Party and doesn’t miss sketchy Jill Stein’s weird ideas.
The Green Party’s been looking sketch for some time. I think they’re probably as bad for America as the NRA.
To those still voting Green I say- What The Hell? This party has lost its way long ago and is most likely a Left Wing arm of Putin’s campaign to divide America. Please, you need to just stop blowing up elections and getting half assed semi illegitimate presidents elected by splitting the Left
To all on the political Left I urge you- vote Democrat in 2018 and we’ll run these fascists out of out government and impeach Trump
As evidence I have only the entirety of everything Jill Stein says, seemingly purposely divisive. She’s only hanging out with what we can call a pretty much admitted Kremlin spy, Flynn , at the infamous dinner where Flynn led the standing ovation, in his general’s uniform, for Putin.
Jill Stein is possibly a Russian asset and a traitor. It’s hard for me to believe anything else, really
Oh and seriously, don’t donate any money to these clowns. It’s basically like giving it to Putin. Another alternative Left party with some better ideas, like the Social Democrats or the Working Families Party, which seem much more authentic, will fill the void. They also play much nicer and work with the actual Democrats, pulling the whole party in a progressive direction. The Greens just want to pull us apart.
We don’t need these sketchy maybe traitors stirring the pot anymore. Personally I agree with the German Film Look Who’s Back in the assertion that were Hitler to somehow come back he’d like the Green Party right off the bat.
Is Trump the least popular president ever? A simple”No” doesn’t cover it anymore. Now we can only respond; “Depends how you measure it.”
Underwater Yet Still Sinking
Trump started out below 50% on day one, back at the “Biggest Inauguration in History” where the protest marches outdrew his swearing in by a HUGE margin. In fact the one year anniversary protest marches against trump also did better so far as turnout as any Trump event of any kind yet.
The fact is Trump has only flirted with 50% briefly and distantly. Trump trashes the people who are opposed or turned off by him just like he trashed the girl who would didn’t fuck him in High School. In other words- Suddenly its something you never wanted and no one would ever want? 2 minutes ago you thought she was hot.
This would probably be easier to accept if were more spectacular. Lets face it people NOT doing something can be hard to put a compelling picture up of. So the TV news doesn’t do cover it like they might if they had some juicy video.
The only poll that really has decades of history is Gallup. It may be flawed to a
In most ways our least popular ever president, Harry Truman.
degree, but it seemed to be about accurate on election day when votes were cast. FACT-Hillary got a lot more votes but lost due to our Arcane systems fatal Republican President Making Flaw known as The Electoral College.
The fact is- Gallup AND the Real Clear Politics Poll of Polls NEVER show the president at 50% or higher in popularity.
The Lowest For The Longest
If Trump’s NOT the lowest for the longest just give it time. Until now it was Harry S Truman holding the All Time Lowest Presidential Approval ratings.
Here’s some overview how that happened;
The beginning of Truman’s presidency is one of the worst days in presidential history as Franklin Delano Roosevelt has to die to cause it. Deep into a world war Americans were unfamiliar with their not so eloquent president. He made either President Bush seem very charismatic.
In Truman’s case dropping the atomic bombs on Japan starts him out looking like a brutal killer or a total wimp. Irony of ironies. Half America resents the dropping of the bombs, the other half think he should have dropped more. So his first decision just divides everyone.
For Truman dropping the Bomb and following FDR are just too much to absorb for most.
Politics and use of military force in Korea further divided the public on Truman. The Korean War was a problem simply because we couldn’t will it to an end in a few weeks. Its also a questionable war. Truman feuded with the Theater Commander MacArthur and MacArthur took it public. Plus we’re starting to come to terms with the Segregation issue at home.
Harry Truman never caught a break publicity wise.
If you dislike Trump the Bad News is despite this Truman keeps getting elected. The Good News? Trump will almost definitely NOT be able to replicate the level of personal engagement Truman gutted out in the extensive Whistle Stop Tour to get re-elected. It showed poise, control and determination. Truman just had more character than Trump.
Look at the gargantuan effort Truman put in-
The approximate route of Truman’s 1948 Whistle Stop Tour.
Truman gets by mostly on shoe leather, one of his re-election tours featured him doing whats been called whistle-stop tour. Basically he took a train to as many small towns as possible and formed a bond with enough average people to get around the bad polls and win. I don’t know if a Tweet or a series of tweets has the same effect.
The Numbers Now
Trump is sickening everyone by already campaigning for 2020 but he probably has to. The real question is how much of that is based on his craziness and need for approval? Like Hitler he seems to need to really kill it at a good rally to buoy his spirits
14 months in Trump is about 5% below what he had on Inauguration Day. 14 months below 50% has happened but below 46%? And constantly ‘bottoming out’ with dips into 30s?
It’s not as bad as ‘The Last Days of Bush” yet, but soon he will absolutely be the president who had the lowest approval for the longest time.
Real Clear Politics Aggregate Poll as of March 11, 2018
The Very Worst?
Again, Truman or George W Bush own the all time low approval, with low 20’s as the nation waited out the end of their careers. Viewed as term-limited lame ducks who pointlessly started wars of choice they were loathed at the end. That’s the big difference. They had been president for awhile and just wore out their welcome.
Trump’s White House Home Invasion is only 2 months into year 2.
How Could it Get Worse?
A war would probably be enough to drop Trump to very lowest ever, say in the mid teens approval wise sespite the apparent ‘staying power’ in the 30% range.
If the level of prosperity drops off or there’s trouble for any prolonged time with the Stock Market Trump’s number will tumble.
An irresponsibly done tax cut that was widely criticized only bought Trump a few weeks in the mid forties in approval.
The Mueller Probe could send Trump’s approval plummeting but not like screwing the pooch with a war or if he gets his Wall built.
The 30% core followers are members of Cult 45 and will not change their minds no matter how much proof Mueller comes up with. This may not be enough to save Trump from Impeachment and Jail, only another hacked election seems capable of stopping that.
Is This Historic Yet?
Yes. It’s too low for too long.
Trump definitely could rescue Harry Truman from “Least Popular President Ever”.
The slightest shifts in the situation in America or on the Korean Peninsula (or any number of other places) could devastate his approval ratings in mere hours.
By devastate we mean dip to say the mid to high twenties. And something like 70% disapproval. And it could go on for two or three years.
It’s not clear how he can govern at all with the increasing strain of NEVER having so much of America approve of him.
W Says Thanks
Already no longer the dumbest president ever, George W Bush must be relieved.
Trump’s approval rating is routinely in striking distance of the W Bush All Time Low of 31.9%. He Will Beat it sooner or later. Ditto for Trump’s proximity to Bush’s all time high DISAPPROVAL of 64.8% that same week in September 2008.
The big difference is George W Bush’s big fall comes as a lame duck playing out the string. Trump is only 14 months in.
When He’s Up it Temporary, when He’s Down it Stays
Probably the constant idiocy and fascist-like talk and tweets prevent trump from rising to 50% approval.
The problem is that the failure is now baked in. Trump looks foolish regularly. His ‘outreach’ to the other side politically is always a line in the sand. He can’t work towards a consensus. He has that 30% and if he does everything right and keeps quiet for a few days he sometimes rises close to 40 but that’s a hard ceiling.
With a lot more people disinterested in politics than in the past the disengagement of about 10% of everyone helps Trump a bit too.
Low to mid 30’s are probably going to be a fact of life for this president, for however long he lasts.
And just for score keeping – the most popular ever president is George H W Bush right after the Gulf War starts. Off the top of my head i think he makes it over 80% approval. He failed to be re-elected. So that makes his the hugest drop-off ever.
In a spectacular display of gaslighting Trump’s just spent about 5 minutes insisting a drug dealer kills at least 5000 people in their lives and must be killed themselves.
In fact it was so crazy I started typing this immediately. We’re seeing a new low in style and delivery from trump. It’s all stuff we’ve seen before but perhaps more vitriolic than ever, unbelievably.
The speech was a disjointed mess as usual. I’ll try to keep like ideas together. Of course his delivery meandered as always. It seemed off the cuff as usual too. The idea Trump freestyling without a qualified staff was on full display.
The drug dealer comments came after a long screed about the Wall that’s never getting built and impromptu imitations of other world leaders. He pulled out his applause line about the fantasy Mexico will pay fo the Wall for a couple of preposterous stories.
Trump also found time to make some pejorative racial cracks about Elizabeth Warren before lacing into repeated long stories about ICE and MS-13. It was pretty hard to figure out if the crowd was chanting ‘Build that Wall” or “Kill Them All”. I guess he’s lucky theres so few Native Americans in general, but its safe to say “racist against Native Americans” describes his comments best.
Later Trump helicoptered back to MS-13 yet again and compared the ICE raids on Long Island to the liberation of a city during war-time, a total misrepresentation. Then he scapegoated immigrants again as he called for penalties for sanctuary cities. Then on to chain migration and that Visa Lottery he hates for no apparent reason.
Then he praised the ICE agents as mean brutes, which is the way Trump wants all law enforcement to act (except Mueller, of course). All remarks on criminal justice revolved around the death penalty and 19th Century Opium War analogies which also were about the death penalty. He held up Singapore and China as paragons of justice.
As usual his overall tone could be called “Un-American”.
He didn’t seem scripted at all tonight. Maybe all the staff defections prevented anyone from putting together any kind of speech. It was just boasting and vitriol.
It was disturbing to have him use imprisonment, the death penalty and nuclear war as punch lines. Whatever.
The unbroken boiler plate technique of never reaching out to the other side endured. In a particularly unhinged moment he bought up Rep Maxine Waters just to bash her intelligence. He also found time to talk about some sort of Secret Weakness of Oprah’s as he wished she’d run for president. Personally if another TV personality gets close to being the president its off to Canada for me. The point is Trump bashed 2 black women just for the fuck of it. Pretty despicable.
And for the first time Ronald Reagan started to take a beating. Trump portrayed himself as not the Snake Oil Salesman he is; but a better version of Old Dutch and then mentioned some out of context, sketchy or hard to believe stuff he claimed he did better than Reagan.
Then he called himself the most successful first term president in all American History. So Lincoln? Washington? all just a warmup for Trump? The idiots in the crowd bought it.
Political violence doesn’t seem like its far off when you see the way Trump irresponsibly manipulates the fools who cling to him still. I guess its tempting to live in a World where everyone but you and Trump are wrong.
And he found time to congratulate himself for solving unemployment for African Americans.
On to an attack on the Democrats. Is there any doubt he’ll launch a criminal probe of any opponent in the next General Election?
Hillary got bashed, Obama got bashed. Even George W Bush got trashed. The crowd loved it. Lets face it these people were members of Cult 45.
Frightening repeated calls for Isolationism concerning his Wall and some denigrating comments he half bought back about the president of Mexico were in there.
For awhile he was boasting about his tax plan. The he was using a theoretical nuclear attack on the Olympics as a laugh line. Then he took all the credit for the success of the Olympics themselves.
75 minutes in he’s again boasting of the size of the crowd he drew and criticizing how the media covers it, trying to floor direct the news coverage through sheer bullying.
Like Dana Loesch at CPAC and every other republican for the last 18 months he extolled the crowd by denigrating the media. Lots of Stalin Era terms like Fake News were used by the president in his fuhrer furor.
Over and over he stated that since he’s good news copy he’s a good president. This is about the stupidest justification for presidency ever including the platforms of everyone who ever lost including Eugene V Debs.
He bashed the press over and over. Tonight for whatever reason it was Chuck Todd who was he subject of the not so funny insult “Sleepy Eyes”. The guy has red hair, couldn’t Trump have done better? Whatever. This week he says he hates MSNBC more than CNN and especially hates Meet The Press. It was petty and small.
On to bashing Peggy Noonan and The “Failing New York Times. He claims he likes Noonan, he just hates that she dares to criticize him. I guess somehow that relates to the Reagan-bashing? She did work for him.
He then imitated himself as ‘a real politician.’ It was better than his serious comments to be honest. About 2 minutes of pantomiming here. Circus skills were on display from the president as he’s basically a clown anyway.
Throwing people in jail, arresting people and killing drug dealers come up over and over. It’s pretty damn scary thinking this is what’s floating around his mind all day.
Of course no mention of the chaos or Stormy Daniels as the most secretive least transparent president ever just basically kept puffin’ away with not so coded racism and one whack idea after another.
And he spent a lot of time interrupting himself as one thought pushed out another. Its hard not to notice the heavy no necked guy behind Trump on my TV’s left who looks seriously inbred next to the lone minorities, 2 people holding up shirts referring to China (Jared’s fans?) at the rally.
As always, the whole speech was disparate and weird. Using violent analogies as a crutch he wheeled from one idea to another.
We could tell two things-
-Donald Trump loves the Death Penalty
– Donald Trump is winging it all the time now and needs the crowds approval. As they go he goes, he stands for nothing.
Then of course it was back to election night and recounting his “Historic’ Russian influenced fluke victory.
Now as Trump moves you can see there is in fact one black person there. I guess good for her?
The whole story of election night has become like Hitler talking about World War 1, but with Bones Spurs.
And then an attack on CNN and more puffery about election night. The margin of victory was either razor slim or Historic from moment to moment.
He did whine about the idea he would be Impeached. Wonder why he thinks that? The he misrepresented his education again and claimed he went to Wharton. He went to the Wharton Campus and took Real Estate Programs (that didn’t last at the school). Maybe he took a management class that some actual Wharton students took. I’m sure the school is proud a man who went bankrupt 3 times attributes his success to them. I don’t think they’re ever going to be a “Trump Hall” at the school, unless its Sexual Assault Trauma Counseling Center.
Trump looking bored and out of it moments after he got done puffing. Saccone looks plain nuts.
And we all had to hear the Keep America Great slogan he’s already unveiled for 2020 re-election effort, which started November 9th 2016.
Then Militarism was up for a few boasts and lies where he talked about an incredible American weakness Kim Jong-Un must have loved hearing about. Someone needs to explain to him that they navy is smaller than world war two becuae 1- its more effective and 2- one third of the ships are no longer carrying coal behind the actual combat ships. His military misconceptions were stark and frightening.
And of course Trump thinks everyones all wrong to about how he’s pointlessly cozying up to horrible Dictator Kim Jong-Un. Kindred spirits maybe? Anyway turns out he’s sure that the North Koreans will love everything he says and do whatever he wants. He then derided the media for questioning why he would do something so extreme without getting a thing in return. He seemed so frustrated on this point that theres probably no way he reconsiders this unbelievably stupid move.
Finally, having spewed hate apparently off the top of his head for nearly 90 minutes, Trump finally started to introduce the keynote speaker, GOP Hater Rick Saccone, a man who sounded like he had just swallowed broken glass. And then mercifully the coverage ended.
Seriously this was pure Nazi brainwashing. Gaslighting, lies, exaggerations, some pure bullshitting about his popularity being at an all time high when its stagnant below 40 since weeks into his presidency.
It was a deep dive into a non reality in the guise of a campaign rally. In fact he barely mentioned the candidate at all. He seems to have moved on from dramatic tales of teachers needing guns and hypothetical tales of personal bravery that was part of his whole mishandling of America’s Gun Massacre Problem last week. Back to xenophobia and Them-ism with a vengeance.
As the misappropriated legally forbidden Rolling Stones song he wont stop playing sadly played to the collected losers and racists who showed up on a cold winter night to watch a madman it was about as disturbing as could be. Every box checked off on the “Tin Pot Dictator Fascinated with Hitler” checklist.
Like all Trump speeches it was based largely on the first 5 minutes of 1970’s “Patton” docu-drama about the hard charging World War Two general. He deeply misunderstands this movie, but his political style is pretty much wholly based on it.
In this terrible speech Trump hit on most of the themes assocuated with the start of Word War One and Two and especially Weimar and early Nazi Germany.
There was militarism and a call to strengthen the military. There was the blaming of a small section of society for every manner of problems. There was the Gaslighting that Drug Dealing is equal to thousands of murders. I guess its im[ortant to note he made no distinction between marijuana, crack or heroin.
Grim, Dystopian, dark and racist are all words you could apply to this shaeful display of menta weakness by the president.
Trump’s speech would have worked fine for the Kaiser or Hitler himself honestly.
Like a Nazi speaker from the scrapheap of history there was blame heaped on political opponents. It was repeatedly implied the media should be harmed to help America out. There was an attack on our Allies as well as bellicose talk of the campaign against ISIS where the seemingly made up statistic of 98% of territory recovered from ‘the Caliphate’. Islamophobia and scorn towards immigrants were themes. Protectionism was in there when he touted the steel and aluminum tariffs that will be paid by American citizens in the end.
UPDATE- the presidents staff said there WAS a script for the rally, he simply didn’t use it. Hard to believe actually.
Celebrating his recent Total Victory in The War on Christmas, General Bone Spurs has ordered the nations military to parade around saluting him.
So far the parade sounds like a bad mashup of a Nazi Documentary meets HMS Pinafore in an avoidable AMTRAK style train wreck. Who needs crazy social experiments like Meals on Wheels when life can simply take on somewhat more phony dignity? Certainly feels like the part of Animal Farm where daily, coordinated displays of pride are substituted for things like food and time off to me.
So Comrade Napoleon-I mean Trump, will waste a ton of tax payer cash to stroke his ego and finally (in his mind) put to rest questions about him being a fuckin coward too scared to fight in Nam.
Look at the man and ask yourself “Did he handle losing his hair well? Better than say, someone I would actually trust with my money? Or my kids?” The answers no. I’m not sure I could so much as rent an apartment from a person with a hair helmet who chose to go out covered in orange body paint. Trump is a man so vain he couldn’t stand the thought of people NOT thinking he spent most of his time lying around in the sun while simultaneously pretending to be a work-a-holic with little time for pleasure. Yes America, you voted in a complete asshole. Probably. Unless it was Putin, who knows? Now he needs to see all his toys at once.
The parade could be even sillier than I’ve so far imagined. For instance, 500 tanks rolling down Pennsylvania Avenue followed by 500 more Missiles all grinding the asphalt into a bunch of hellish slabs for our brave soldiers to stumble through while presumably Seig Heil-ing King Shit (who we already know will set up the reviewing stand in front of his stupid DC hotel).
Trump’s own petulance and lack of any sensitivity towards people will have to be planned around to avoid embarrassng gaffes. Some of the many many problems are easy to foresee. Top of my head? Ok, what of the gay and trans-gendered troops forced march around in this stupid step show? Will our bigot president allow it? Imagine his seething anger if he catches sight of anything that displeases him. He could easily explode in anger if-
there’s a large contingent of female Marines.
Or maybe a couple of transgendered Army Doctors.
Or should he spot one of the Gold Star Families he so despises.
Or if it rains.
Or if there’s a protest (there will be a protest).
Or worse.
And lets not forget that Trump will, as always, be grinding several axes when the parade goes down. Will he attack NFL players? Or be brooding over election results (it IS in November). Will he make a speech where he directly says that the Democrats are murderers and treasonous again? Rest assured the Divider-In-Chief will find a way to embarrass the military and all of the citizens with any brains.
We have a long, shameful path to walk before this proposed nightmare in November. With any luck someone at the Pentagon will remember its the 100th Anniversary of the End of World War I and provide some cover for this naked celebration of Trump. A tasteful WWI commemoration is a great way out of this mess. Sadly it would end up as a celebration of a Segregated Military and probably a full throated call to militarism in the hands of these jackasses.
Nikki Haley sounded just like Trump today when she gave a harsh speech that could probably be called “Reverse Blackmail” aimed at the entire world. Some have said this illustrates that Trump wants blind loyalty. Others point to the vote where all but 9 UN member nations decided to condemn the US decision to move its Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a place so safe and non controversial that the Israeli’s themselves do government business a Katyusha Rocket flight (and change) away in Tel Aviv.
That’s all true about loyalty, but Trump also has a lifelong pattern of simply not paying what he owes. Probably relates in some way to the inexhaustible reservoir of anger he has and his complete lack of empathy for others. The bottom line is that Trump is not a trustworthy himself, so he sees everyone as the shifty liar he is. There’s always a reason not to pay, even if it’s just something he thinks up that might happen in the future.
Art of the Deal famously talks about his boilerplate practice of simply refusing to remit. Sometimes he says the work was shoddy. It basically comes down to- he’s too cheap and petty to have lawyers on retainer and not have them sue back their salaries by using them as legal cannon fodder. Tying people down in court til there was no point continuing but honor has worked. It’ an awful way to do business and it’s probably the biggest reason he has to get his loans from Russian Mobsters instead of American Banks.
Now Trump’s petulance is US Policy. Don’t expect any concessions from the world. They’re just fine sucking up the vacuum in global leadership and they’re all having a good laugh. What the fuck do they care if the UN moves to the Hague? Old Amsterdam is even more fum than New Amsterdam, they’ll be fine.
The American People are the losers here. The idea we will regain moral leadership of the world when we get a new president is not exactly a foregone conclusion.
And it’s not like Trump has any plans beyond maybe trying to acquire the UN site for luxury hotel space. He’s just doing the only thing he knows, playing to the loudest Right Wing Empty Barrels and attempt to curry favor with petty horrible people like himself. Is it any shock he gravitated to the Right Wing fantasies that regard withholding money?
Nikki Haley should be ashamed. Has she even considered Life After Trump? Does she really think if she becomes Secretary of State she will not be undermined and bashed by Trump the way he currently goes after Tillerson?
I haven’t said this before because I guess my pride forbid it; but it can’t be denied, Trump, by virtue of everything we see, is a powerful seductive voice. Yes, he mostly appeals to simple, angry people, but there’s a few who damn well should know better sprinkled in.
Trump’s cheap and petty traits are going to drag America through the mud as he uses the (now free) resources he has to soothe his angry ego by just cheating people. I think he gets off on it.
Trump’s predilection to use shifty legal manuevers to simply delay while he creates other fires has scary implications for the Mueller Investigation.
I predict the very idea he can fire Mueller or effectively neuter him with some maneuvering and strategic firing of others (hear that Rosenstein and McCabe?) is too much for Trump’s feeble mind.
Since the time of the Roman’s the best way to destroy a democracy outside outright war has been to simply install and inept leader who spends badly and otherwise stresses the state institutions, like the courts. Trump was appealing to his Russian handlers because anyone thinking about him being president for even a minute would realize he’s incompetent and flagrantly dishonest. He could stress the Institutions of State.
It’s pretty likely we’ll all be out on the streets protesting in the next couple of days. I just don’t see Trump as able to handle the power and hey, he KNOWS he’s guilty, so he’s going to fire Mueller. Probably sooner rather than later.
UPDATE- Mueller somehow came out of Christmas and looks to be ending the Nw Year with a job still. I still think ultimately he will be fired.
If that somehow doesnt happen (or un-happens) look for Trump to just use all tactics available to play for time. He has no problem being president of 35% and falling. He can take more Horrible than us.
His goal wont be to win in this either, just to kick the can every day with no real Frand Strategy outside the usual- some kind of Out fo Court Settlement where he steps away admitting No Guilt. As soon as he leaves office he has 19 or so Sexual Harrassment / Sexual Assault cases againsyt him that will take a lot of effort to avoid paying out in. On this one his strategy will be (unwittingly, of course) to kick the can til he dies.
Its been awhile since I felt the urge to share my thoughts. In fact this is my first post of the Trump Era.
We have likely entered a time Historians will call the Second Cold War or Cold War 2. There’s little doubt that the worlds 2 biggest nuclear powers have never had a more strained relationship. Vladimir Putin, who has social engineered the Russian Federation to a standard of living where the average citizen has just over 400 bucks a month to play with, is surely laughing at the unmitigated success of ‘Operation Fuck Up America’. The fact is a corrupt strongman dictator presiding over economic collapse could be the most powerful man in the world is sobering. His objective being to line his pocket is the only thing mitigating the charge to Armageddon. Putin at least seems to realize for now that Mutually Assured Destruction is a Reality despite frightening words to the contrary starting to slowly leak in reports from both the Kremlin and the White House.
We have likely entered a time Historians will call the Second Cold War or Cold War 2. There’s little doubt that the worlds two biggest nuclear powers have never had a more strained relationship. Vladimir Putin, who has social engineered the Russian Federation to a standard of living where the average citizen has just over 400 bucks a month to play with, is surely laughing at the unmitigated success of ‘Operation Fuck Up America’.
Since the start of their Campaign for President Team Trump was never concerned about appearances, a fact that sometimes benefited and never hurt the Candidate. One allegation of Impropriety after another has come to light since Trump’s jaw dropping “10 for 10 in tossup states” election night Coup victory.
A stranger to Decency and the Truth So Called President Trump has done evrything he can to avoid being a president for all Americans to the point its no longer even important why he does
Look Out Below!
it. A low level of Courtesy toward friend and foe alike have Trump in a Historic Approval Ratings Downfall that only can be compared to the final fleeting weeks of the Watergate Scandal.
The only thing we know with absolute certainty is Vladimir Putin and his Kremlin Cronies have used money, hacks and media manipulation at the very least to influence the outcome of the election. Whether they pierced any state voting systems to engineer the mind blowing statistical anomaly that was the Trump Victory (which boils down to a just over half a sold out baseball stadium in most states he won worth of votes, a handful in this nation of millions) is still being investigated.
rather than try to keep score right now here’s a smattering of problems off the top of my head–
A Traitor and now possible Triple Agent, Ex-General Mike Flynn whose whole story is such a flaming bag of shit that the White House usually tries to punt all questions. Look for Flynn to testify FOR the Government AGAINST the President when the Impeachment or Worse goes down. (UPDATE- as of about 8 pm Eastern time CNN has begun reporting Flynn is actively SEEKING IMMUNITY
A farsical Press Secretary who is now a Human Cartoon
A White House so leaky talk of an unnoticed iceberg strike is now mandatory
2 travel bans shot down as petty and Unamerican
Healthcare slapdash con job implodes
Constant Blame shifting by the White House
A complete inability to let go of any perceived slight
Never missing a chance to speak harshly and stridently to women and minorities, especially those in the press
A Self Destructive Paranoia ending in baseless accusations that then president Obama was watching the Trump Campaign via arcane methods
Revelations that Trump family members and Campaign officials had fallen into the data collection we routinely do to our adversaries
That most of data was collected in a way so predictable the level of incompetent arrogant rank dishonesty is stunning. It only makes sense calling the Russian Embassy would raise eyebrows and leave audiofiles
Incomplete but dusturbing money trails that are now verified as close as a few (metaphoric) blocks from Trump Tower
Ivanka Gets Top Level Security Clearance like she’s the daughter of a Third World Dictator
Jared Kushner is now in charge of so many things he just has to fail at most. The tasks are not even realistic. Example- Peace In the Middle East on Americas Terms NOW.
The Term ‘Circular Firing Squad’ becoming commonplace in any discussion of current White House methods
Military Viewpoints that are increasingly called out as Dark Ages (or on a good day Medieval)
A complete tone-deaf reaction to every race or gender issue outside the persecution of the disenfranchised white man
A near Boiler Plate Pattern of Squandering away perceived success with increasingly discordant messages via twitter at crazy hours
Still more unrelated early early morning Tweet Storms as self-defeating as they are self-serving
Regular falsehoods dispensed from day 1 about the size of the crowd at Trumps (modestly attended) inauguration
Panic descending on the entire administration starting sundown on Saturday to see whose reputation Saturday Night Live will lay bare next. This is made all the more tragically funny by the immediate angry reactions from a president who faithfully watches a show he once hosted but always trashes as awful.
North Koreans on their own Schedule could care less how much Tillerson yells at them
Tillerson is apparently either so shady or such an asshole the press aren’t permitted to travel with him
Just because you CAN get away with getting elected president without releasing your taxes doesnt mean you should
A deep longing that this was only as bad as Hillary’s server plus Lewinsky Scandal on Crack by the president
An Intelligence Community here and among our allies that simply but justifiably despises Trump and his crew
What Hell Is Up With James Comey? Why didn’t he tell America BOTH Campaigns were under Investigation? Why did he only go after Hillary? Is he a Spy? Blackmailed? Just Dumb?
An FBI that may just be compromised, especially in New York area.
Not being able to return home to New York due to the absolute assurance of a major protest with a 6 figure crowd trapping him in Trump Tower followed by a dangerous and humiliating exit via rooftop helicopter
The increasing anger at a president who ran on his work ethic but has already established a pattern of taking 1 out of every 3 days off.
There’s more but the bottom line is I am LUCKY for a couple of reasons –
First of all at this point I’ve had a full life. Next is the fact that being 2 miles from the Freedom Tower puts me solidly inside the Zone of Complete Destruction from a Russian Nuclear attack. There’s no need to stock up food when you are sure to be ionized. Lastly- I have no children.
One thing is clear- without a change of leadership (or at the least serious reversal of philosphies) at the top of BOTH nations the situation will be near Untenable for the foreseeble future.
The United States and the Russian Federation are now facing each other in a Cold War Stance.
The worst aspects of this problem are that certain coincidences I believe Trump regards as similarities between himself and Patton as portrayed in the movie are now re-enforcing his delusional belief that he is very much like George Patton.
The biggest thing my hypothesis has going for it is if you momentarily embrace it, it explains pretty much everything and holds up to scrutiny from numerous angles. Of course its not perfect, but indulge me and then draw your own conclusion— BECAUSE COMMENTS ARE ENABLED!! Please weigh in if you feel so inclined!
The movie ‘Patton’ is a masterpiece of film making that starts with a very strong Francis Ford Coppola screenplay advised by none other than Patton contemporary and equal- General Omar Bradley himself. An inspired George C Scott gave a brilliant, authentic and career defining performance then blew off accepting his Best Actor Oscar to go to a hockey game, how cool is that? Throw in one of the best movie scores outside Star Wars to move it along from the great Jerry Goldsmith of Star Trek fame. The director was Franklin J Shaffner , fresh off “Planet of the Apes” success.
The fact is Film Appreciation 101 might save the planet were Trump forced to take the course. If he had he would have realized the Ironic Duality of the plot. Simply put the movie is all about introducing the open question of “Is Patton all that is Great and Gallant in the United States Military or is he all that is Wrong and Perverse about War and War Making?”
Why This Movie Is A Dangerous Influence on Trump
Trump’s fascination with Patton is a problem for a bunch of reasons. For one thing George Patton, despite his success, is a TERRIBLE role model for a politician or president. The real Patton was apparently non political, which makes sense. A wise choice since despite a rough charm he had no diplomatic skill or real personal charisma beyond the shock and awe of non stop profanity. While this is fine for a mid 20th century war time general, it’s just awful for a 21st century president!
The root of Trump’s many misconceptions seems to be that he is viewing the movie in a very simple manner. It seems likely Donald Trump never took a single film class. The fact is Film Appreciation 101 might save the planet were Trump forced to take the course. If he had he would have realized the Ironic Duality of the plot.
Simply put the movie is all about introducing the open question of “Is Patton all that is Great and Gallant in the Military? Or is he all that is Wrong and Perverse about War and War Making?” The movie seems to suggest he is both at the same time.
The movie analogizes very well to the 2016 Campaign, though spies play a more prominent role in the current situation, of course.
The characters line up as roughly this- Trump of course is Patton. Egotistical British General Montgomery , equally delusional and insane to only a slightly lesser degree, is ‘Crooked Hillary’. Patton’s very first aide in the movie who dies is BOTH original campaign managers AND Chris Christie (aside from the actual sorrow Patton felt,Trump we know is a stranger to empathy). Cod, his final aide is Kellyanne Conway and racist Steve Bannon. Omar Bradley and the US military are Paul Ryan and the Republicans. The German Military is the over-prepared Democratic Party, including their OP-O Researcher. Rommel is Bernie Sanders, the likely superior field commander made ineffective by a truly incompetent leader.
The movie opens with a ‘Patton Rally’. It’s a composite of Patton’s actual speeches delivered in front of a gigantic American Flag using George Scott’s incredible speaking voice to draw us in as he gives it to his troops in a loud and dirty fashion.
It’s very much a political looking arena and an Academy Award Moment defying the viewer to look away.
When Patton begins to speak he’s commanding and profane. He tells his men their better than anyone their opponents, who are subhuman creeps. He boasts about their training and weapons and says they’re destined to win. He speaks of violence and glory. Again, perfect for a wartime general, TERRIBLE for a president, but of course its not very different from what Trump says at his rallys.
There are some traits both the Man in the Movie and Trump share.
One similarity between Trump and Movie Patton would be the portrayal of Patton as very much Bipolar. He was probably ‘Manic Depressive’ in terms of that time. Both were spotty students at prestigious schools (though Patton was afflicted with dyslexia, an actual learning disability he overcame, showing some discipline and personal character). Both are only functional when attacking. Both are insulated from their mistakes by great personal wealth.
Anti-Patton Cartoon from “Patton” (1970)
Both loved media coverage of and yet bristled at the scrutiny that invites. Both earned the distinction of “Suspected Huge Fan of the Nazis” from the media in their time.
Neither could simply shut up for any length of time. While Trump uses tweets Patton would simply act in an outrageous manner (sound familiar?) til the press couldn’t look away.
Both seem to flirt with the idea of War for War’s sake (the Patton character admits this repeatedly).
Each guy has their own unique religious tastes Whereas Patton’s shown as being deep and sincere Trump’s religous ides are just parroted stuff and the fact he hired Pence. Similarly; Patton’s steadfast belief in re-incarnation and love of all things violent calls into question whether he is actually a christian. In the movie he hits his knees a couple of times but only in the most arrogant way in the most dire moments. This is not unlike Trump being beloved by extremist Christians despite a life of documented debauchery and sexual assaults (and now Stormy Daniels). The climax of this subplot is arguably also the climax of the movie. Patton, frustrated that the reality of the situation didn’t fit with his preconceived plan, basically ORDERS GOD TO CHANGE THE WEATHER AND APPARENTLY PULLS IT OFF. This only
reinforces his extreme vanity and puts a more dangerous edge on his genius.
Of course what we all know today about Patton’s Weather Prayer is that a warm front moved in and the snow simply stopped. That doesn’t blunt the forceful nature of the scene where Patton excoriates a regimental chaplain, telling him to write a prayer “good enough” for God to bother listening. Its very much like Trump’s contempt for the Pope and religion in general. The “Two Corinthians” Fiasco shows Trump has no religious knowledge or convictions but has no problem with rank hypocrisy and is therefore a bit less moral than Patton.
This sequence of the movie is meant to show Patton’s Hubris and psychopathy in pursuit of battle and it’s a very dangerous thing to take it literally as surely Trump does.
Another thing Trump and ‘Movie Patton’ have in common would be a total lack of understanding of whats called “Psychological Warfare”. In the film Patton is apparently baffled as to the importance of his mission leading up to D-Day- to be a weapon of mass distraction . Patton’s use as a decoy convinced Hitler to disregard an Actual Invasion and hold off forces that may well have turned the tide of the War itself , to await a Fictional Invasion that was never going to happen. It was key to pulling of the Allied Invasion of France.
Now consider Trump calling the Generals and the former president stupid repeatedly for broadcasting some details of their plan to destroy ISIS. He simply doesn’t understand the idea that you can cloud your opponents judgement to the point you can predict or even control his actions.
It’s too subtle for the movie character or Trump to grasp.
Both Trump and Patton have a deep disdain of giving out any government healthcare. Patton orders his hospital units not to admit Combat Fatigue, which he considers
Patton “shaming a coward”/ abusing a soldier
cowardice.
This was so insane even to 1940’s medical personnel they simply ignore him. That of course boomerangs on Patton in his version of a “Hot Mic on the Bus” moment. The General loses control of himself publicly and betrays his bi-polar nature and complete lack of empathy during a brutal screaming meltdown.
Of course I am talking of the scene where Patton slaps a ‘cowardly’ soldier in a Field Hospital, disgusting everyone and showing his troops how little he cares about them despite the bravado.
Real life Patton slapped more than one soldier more than one time til they actually had to discipline him and remove him from command. It was just like the self inflicted wound we see Trump give himself all the time.
Patton is benched and used as a decoy until after the D-Day Invasion, the battle he had waited all his life to fight in. He faces it like a pitcher caught doctoring a baseball and forced to miss a playoff start. In other words, with only a minimal thought of anyone else. Again Patton shows his view of war and command to be from the Dark Ages or perhaps early Renaissance at its most compassionate.
In his finest moments of triumph after receiving a new army to command, when prosecuting the war Patton is shown as petty and dismissive of his soldiers well-being and simply thinks of his Army as a whole. To Patton, when people get killed it’s like the Army itself is just trimming it’s fingernails. In other words; it’s a natural ongoing function of war.
Just as important as winning were the laurels and press adulation that came with it. When holding the spotlight Patton is grandiose in his actions while his words are always petty. Demonizing and denigrating his personal rivals, boasting of his the strength of his army. Its much like Trump with the exception of the part it’s actually appropriate for a general to have that attitude in time of war. Trump appropriating the George C Scott version of Patton in a political mode ISN’T appropriate at all, it worked though. A crass and abusive screed of insults and violent rhetoric are the hallmark of every Trump Rally ever
Patton and Trump have contempt for the abilities (and probably even the racial abstraction) of the Russians, despite Trump’s open admiration for Putin. Patton moves himself firmly onto the hot seat in the early postwar moments by repeatedly insulting people, specifically members of the russian military, the US President and that which would become NATO. Sound familiar?
Near the conclusion of the movie Patton is again being a prima donna for the press, riding a prized horse in a Baroque era stable. He’s absolutely embraced the role of Military Governor from a Medieval Perspective. He refuses to denounce the Nazi’s properly and defends his utilization of Hitler’s former minions in his administration. In the characteristically glib manner of a sociopath Patton simply analogizes the Nazi party to the Republicans and Democrats in America. Such is his arrogance he ignores the way the press are manipulating him and plays bluntly to them making a bellicose implied case for war and just basically checking off boxes on the list of traits of “Unfrozen Caveman Warlord”. The career of Patton is gutted by his insane statements and brutal medieval view of war, deemed just too out of touch with the 20th century to be any longer tolerated.
The movie closes with the disgraced Patton reflecting in how the Romans would celebrate a victory with a triumphant parade through Rome itself and a warning that all Glory is Fleeting.
Disturbing Conclusions and Thoughts-
It’s my theory that Trump see’s the story of Patton as that of an American who couldn’t lose cause he was an American and that he was an exceptional person who prospered BECAUSE he broke all rules and civility rather than IN SPITE OF THIS. I believe he sees his kooky Cabinet of Billionaire Ass kissers as equivalent to Patton’s highly trained and battle proven staff officers. This dangerous delusion casts crazy ex-General Flynn in the role of Omar Bradley, something so far from the truth it would be laughable of it weren’t absolute reality.
Based on his overtly displayed misunderstanding of the movie Trump shows he is dangerously militarily primitive and most comfortable with methods and ideas more commonly associated with the Nazi Germans than 20th century Americans.
Patton is a terrible role model for even most soldiers as he was always succeeding at he expense of higher all around casualties. He declined peaceful solutions whenever possible. He was always one mistake from disaster but circumstance connived him a series of unlikely wins. As a role model for a president Patton is a disaster.
Like Trump, Patton’s glory should never eclipse the incompetence of his enemies. It requires some historical perspective to understand. Patton was set loose in western Europe with a veteran army and ample supplies. Even more decisive the Germans are mandated by Hitler ONLY to plan against Patton in an area where they expect the Invasion that never comes in Calais. Rather than ever accepting that they must fight Patton they become intimidated and willfully ignorant of the reality due to Hitler’s rapid mental decline from seriously insane to non functional maniac between about 1942 and early 1944. Patton directly benefits. As far as the recent campaigns analogize think of this as being roughly the same as Hillary not going to states she considered ‘safe’, like the vaunted Democratic “Blue Wall” of reliably Democratic states , each of which she then lost by less than an under-attended football game worth of people. We know Trump appreciates this misstep because its one of his favorite riffs to go on from the ongoing “Thank You Rallies” that are a veritable torchlight parade for the guy.
Also like Trump, Patton did have a staff of soothsayers, but again, they were highly competent top notch merit promoted staff officers with great expertise as well. Trumps rag tag group of advisers is anything BUT top notch or Highly Competent.
Another unavoidable conclusion from the movie is that current 21st century Americans are actually LESS civilized than Americans of the mid 20th century, 75 years ago, or at the very least the Americans of 1970 when the film is made. Being at war since 9-11 surely is somewhat to blame for this. This suggests that assertions about a cult of ignorance and a desire to literally turn back the clock to early post world war 2, before the integration of the military, by the Trumpists are very much real and accurate.
There is still time to avoid the fate of the Germans and the fate of Patton, which is the final spoke of this wheel. Patton’s death was in a freakish car accident. Its long been imagined and even said that the General was killed by the CIA’s predecessor the OSS. If you watch the movie you’ll end up a little torn by that because clearly he was an enemy of peace in every form. Could Trump’s disdain for the Intelligence community and peoples sensibilities be such that there is action taken against him as well?
Linzess for IBS (extra weird commercial for opiate addicts based on year 1 MTV ads)
Mobile Strike phone game
Leesa mattress (also slightly creepy)
Main Event
740 pm
Ugly USA chant dome with great spite
Audi (German)
Aleve patch (pharma based Dr avoidance product)
Progressiver (warren Buffet owned)
23 & Me FDA approved dna scan
CNN self promo
MSC Cruises
Some university
CNN self promo dem conv
–rick scott speaks, least popular governor in USA
No mention of his home state. Says yr fired a lot. Lots of sick trump chants. Guiliani 2.0
Sustained hate, fear, isis 3x & counting. Bashes hilarry. More lock her up chants.
MB
Alka setlzer
T-mobile
Progressive Flo
Vote4Energy
CNN Promo
Ring Alarm
Rapid advance
Ivanka interview
Analysis by panel
CNN app commercial
CA Technologies
Koch Enviro friendly commercial
BP (court mandated thru settlement commercial?)
Dollar Shave
Brookdale Old Folks Homes
Rapid Advance
This IS CNN promo
— back to convention
cnn stays analysis w/ wolf and jake
Short Film–History of NASA (which theyve alays voted to defund) narrated by Reagan voice clone on valium focuses on col aileen collins. Concludes we have fallen behind in space exploration, making us weak.
Collins speaks. Claims we went to the moon in peace??
Wolf & Jake again
—–Break—–
Zenni.com glasses
Angies list
Vote 4 energy.com/ energy voters
Ring doorbell
Rapid Advance
CNN promo
__back to convention___
Wolf & Jake
Wolf sets up ted cruz
Sets upcoming 3rd appearance after pence accepts,, sets up Eric Trump to be ‘high point’
Analysis
Speaker State Sen Ralph Alvarado,KY failed doctor, 1st latino elected to KY senate, what a bunch of bigots.seems to try to be saying they arent racists cause they voted for a latino. American Dream speech just like little marco’s. Says all hispanics are republicans and just dont know it. No mention of a wall. Heavy emphasis on ‘legal immigrants’ Hillary hater. Obama hater. Benghazi nut. Very pro trump
A few words in spanish 101
Calls out hillary as hispanic hater.
_Anderson & david axelrod in booth, they note no one will really talk about trump. They agree it’s “Odd”
Speaker Pastor Darrell Scott, Prosperity Minister(?) of Cleveland. Says he talks about discussing military matters with Trump (YIKES!). Didn’t bother to wear a fucking tie. Hates Liberals. Used to do drugs before god grift, now he doesnt want anyone to have fun. Screamed like George C Scott in Patton or maybe wrestling promoter Jim McMahon. Maybe the first person all night to talk about trump at length, says trump believes in bible,Swerves into the supernatural, speaks on behald of god yet somehow no lightning bolt.
Second straight night the supernatural speech brings house down
Panel Analysis
SE Cupp calls out Prosperity Ministers as awful spokesperson
Speaker – Gov Scott Walker, WI. zzzzzzzz Radical ISlam! AHHHH! AAAHHH! Thanks our vets, no mention of help Lines out ‘america deserves better’ throughout specch. Very anti hillary, suggests prison for hilary, lock her up chant again. Urges crowd not to vote 3rd party and scotus fears. Mentions reagan and scalia inn one sentence (DRINK!) Benghazi! E Mails! Never stops shouting . Anti Union Hate Speech.
BREAK
Mobile Strike
CNN promo
Southern NH University, online school
Ring
Cnn promo
BACK FROM BREAK__
Video Narrated by Trump Employee
VP of Eric Trump Foundation & Sr Family Asst Lyn Patton. Looks like CNN says shes just their personal asst’s. Speaks like pro Wrestler on behalf of Orlando’s LGBT people,, then minimizes it and says its attacks on America, not gay community. Speaks on behalf of BLM as a non member who hates them. Says she has to support Trump because shes black. Invokes god
Video- Rigged Political System with Little Marco Rubio attacking Hillary. FEAR! BENGHAZI! (DRINK)
Speaker- Sen Ted Cruz ® Tex
Starts with god of course. RTL then States Rights. Lotsa inaccurate statements,esp re: education
ISIS refugee fears. Down ballot plea, “Vote your conscience” gets raucous applause, we want trump starts up too
Trump cheer takes hold for awhile but he holds forth despite hostility, clearly unwanted there. DOES NOT ENDORSE, suggested maybe vote for someone very unlike Trump. NY GOP heckled him badly. Got his digs in. Booed off stage with his manhood intact for once
__back to Wolf & Jake narrate Trumps entrance Trump looks straight up pissed when not flashing the phony smile.
Panel Discussion hosted by anderson
__Speaker = Trumps son, Eric Trump just a lot aggrandizing of his dad. Kind of looks like the bully from Karate Kid
___back to the booth
NO COMMERCIALS
__SPEAKER_ Moon Governor Newt Gingrich- praises wifes various direct mail businesses – pushes back on Cruz ‘vote your conscience” thing “our enemies are determined to kill us’ FEAR! Focuses on ISIS attacks, nuclear fear. Says all of America can be lost under Hilary. Really fearful
Back to Anchors CNN no Commercial
Reports of deep ugly fight backstage with Cruz and Trump supporters, Cruz wife escorted out
Paul Ryan comes out to the Who’s Eminence Front (about cocaine) and talks up Mike Pence
SPEAKER-___ Mike Pence, VP Candidate. Looks like a cialis or viagra spokesman. His dad owned gas stations and Mikes all about Jesus. He has an awful homophobic record and has never fared well in interviews . Keeps it safe praises his wife & kids, one of whom is a Marine.
he has moved on to extolling Trump as a good man.
NOTE – Pence was once a Catholic Democrat but is now an Evangelical Republican.
Vows hillary will never be president
We Want Trump chant starts to become ongoing while Pence speaks meekly about how tough they will be
Pence alludes to the land of the free and the home of the brave and a USA chant breaks out
Praises cops in a sort of divisive way. Praises Trumps kids. Goes after Hillary , Make America Great again, claims to represent change, HUGE change. ( Crowd chants “Huge”??) border fears. Vets get screwed but no answers or ideas except ‘we’ll be smarter’ Attacks Hillary. claims to be pro union in coal industry
Speaks on behalf of minorities despite being the whitest man alive . Says election will define scotus for 40 years. Promises under hilary judges wont get approved
makes right to life and second amendment plea very nakedly after all the talk of orlando massacre. Talks about his marine kid more and uses that as justification of his ability to judge character. More terrorist attack stuff but nothing about guns. Calls Obama a weak apologist. “DONALD TRUMP WILL DESTROY THE ENEMIES OF FREEDOM! AMERICA STANDS WITH ISRAEL” ok. Mentions Obama’s term ends in precisely 6 months (fact check) Now theyre chanting “we like mike” cause he’s been hateful and fearful for a long while.
He seems to have no eyebrows. He goes into the second supernatural invocation of better times ahead if we make the Trump choice. he extolls trump again in a longwinded way. knowing Trump will appear has people impatient.
he thanks god and asks for blessings.
WALKOUT BY TRUMP, he doesnt appear to be about to speak
Anderson notes its 3rd appearance in 3 nights
My Question- when is Trump guy studying and writing his big speech for tomorrow??
Looks like CNN blew off a lot of commercials time that probably was result of all the anti trump boycotts. as you can see very few prestigous companies bought air time and the Koch Brothers notably bought just one spot
this has benn an awful bore, i hope you spare yourself the viewing by reading this. i consider it a public service
mcteag out
UPDATE 7-21-
Ted Cruz is still attacking Trump and ‘refuses to be his lap dog’. he finally has a hint of gallantry for defending his family
The Tea Party is going solo in some states, and more and more will follow suit quickly. Believe it.
Last night i decided to weigh in on the Mississippi Senate Republican Primary Between Whacked out Chris McDaniel and and a suddenly moderate populist incarnation of what was once Senator Thad Cochran. I didn’t realize it would be huge! Specifically in the McDaniel post failure meltdown.
I mentioned Tea Bagger Maniac McDaniel had refused to concede.
The Tea Party’s Ozzy Osbourne-Madman Chris McDaniel
Its just not something they do, its too graceful and dignified. No Tea Bagger ever concedes in the conventional sense. They freak out and claim fraud no matter how crushing the vote tally. So, like Herman Cain before him and Joe Miller before him McDaniel went on a wild scorched earth rant about the underhanded and UnAmerican nature of his opponent/vanquisher, which was another republican this time; Thad Cochran and the GOP itself. With theatrics and insanity that seemed headed towards some theatrical pyro and maybe biting the head off a bat, McDaniel openly and full throatedly questioned the GOP’s Conservative legitimacy. He did more than imply that a third party was needed. Typical Bagger shit, right? Yes but this time soooo much more!
When the Loser of the Night took up the microphone at his Beer Hall Putsch-like Campaign gathering all Hell broke lose! (Cue Metal Guitar Chord Chunking!!)
A screaming McDaniel was incensed at what he thought was the most unAmerican and UnConservative aspects of Cochran’s strategy- first off-Inclusiveness. The idea that his states primaries were open to voters of either party disgusted McDaniel and he falsely called it illegal. Next he attacked Cochran’s governing philosophy-Mainly the fact that Cochran had told the people in one of America’s poorest states that he would work within the framework of the existing system to bring home the money the state so desperately needed. The McDaniel philosophy and promise was to bring back Nothing to his state so that they could be Free… from money I guess. Why so many Republicans were so stoked about McDaniel’s vision is hard to say. It had been assumed he would win going away. Instead he loses by 4000 votes.
On its own it was hilarious and fulfilling to see a tea billy hater so worked up and pissed he couldn’t be Coolest Kid in the Playground. He’s threatening to sue people today. Good Luck. Hey, maybe he will stick around long enough as an Independent Bagger Third Party kinda rebel Candidate and deal ol’ Thad a killing stroke out of spite and putting the Democrat in, whoever the Hell that is, into the seat Cochran has held since the Civil War (like 36 years).
Enter Snowbilly Grifter Sarah Palin, a woman without a soul or a real source of income outside her own big mouth. She seized on McDaniels comments and made a demand, semi Patrick Henry-like, of ‘Give Me a Conservative Republican Party or Give That Party Death!’ Rush Limbaugh, who also needs to blow a lot of hot air to stay rich, went full tilt on the third party option, that being the Tea Party. Hannity was on the same page, except of course when he said it he sounded like Sylvester Pussycat.
I’m Gonna Say It Now & Ya Heard It Here First–The Tea Party is going solo in some states, and more and more will follow suit quickly. Believe it.
Whats this say for the Republicans? they have birthed a monster to be sure. Their maladjusted latchkey kid Tea Party is a paranoid gun nut who hates his parents as much as anything else. The little bastard is going to take a chunk out of them.
In the short term the GOP is going to end up suffering serious setbacks, but they will always shill hard for big business and so they will survive. In the long term they need a new outlook. Thad Cochran ran toward the middle and won like that. Other old school republicans may just follow suit. It saved Cochran’s ass when he was considered dead and buried. If they choose to take a similar approach, which included a healthy dose of Federalism, they will need to drop some other extreme ideas too, but this may actually help.
The Venn Diagram of the Tea Party/GOP has been in motion since McDaniels meltdown (way to perpetuate the Irish stereotype of ungoverned anger, dick) and I think will remain so for the foreseeable future
Lets face it, the candidates in the Mississippi GOP Senate Race are total jerks with zero appeal. That said the GOP nom will be the guy to likely win the job at the end of the day. McDaniel is just a disgrace to the Irish but hey, way to fucking go breaking into a nursing home to get political dirt!
Cochran, the “Non Tea Bagger” Republican is a knuckle dragging cro mag who would not be near the front of any Darwinian Line. Good thing he’s a Creationist!
So, just two dicks dicking it out for the poorest state in America, right? No, not really. This was a big time shit show.
The whole campaign has been like a * huge * hit of crack for political junkies like me. Google some of the exploits in this race. This is the run off. Stage 1 ended with some erstwhile McDaniel Campaign workers getting locked inside the local courthouse with all the ballots. How embarrassing! Maybe tonight’s flop is a sign they weren’t just lost?
McDaniel ran a brazen campaign where he promised to do NOTHING for the people of his hard to spell state. This would make him the only person to ever lose an election but still accomplish all their legislative goals!
Bottom Line Tea Bagger Down!
UPDATE 6-25-17 6:04 am EDT- Cochrans lead is up to 6000 votes. McDaniel disgraced himself as he kept up the Tea Party Tradition of never conceding and claiming voter fraud every time they lose. These guys are so opposed to being civil and pander to such an angry base they would likely lose credibility if they just behaved like a normal pol in a loss.
With 96% of the vote counted its Cochran actually finally walking fully erect and out in front by 3995 votes. Who knew this many people would even care?
What are Cargo Cult Republicans? Cargo Cult Republicans are those whose behavior and beliefs have devolved into a quasi-religious mindset towards Modern American Conservatism revolving around the 1980’s and Ronald Reagan in an
The Republicans View of Reagan
idealized, ritualized and unrealistic way. The influence of this aspect of modern American Conservatism is palpable yet there has been very little discussion of it.
The classic historical Cargo Cult refers to a quasi-religious phenomenon that arose on the isolated pacific islands used as bases by various militaries during the Second World War. The native islanders in places like Papua, New Guinea had not had much contact with the outside world. Their ways of viewing the day to day world included a good dose of the paranormal. If someone got sick, perhaps a curse had been put upon them. Flood? Famine? Perhaps the villagers aren’t living up to the standards of their pantheon of deities. A thumbnail description would be that they fed the Volcano to pacify the gods,
who were surely a bit crazy.
After the Second World War began in the Pacific the lives of the native islanders were subject to massive culture shock. Literally overnight and literally out of the sky in the form of shiny silver airplanes as well as great iron beasts from the sea came the mid-20th century. None of the previous limited contacts with outsiders provided a frame of reference for what transpired on their islands, their very world, as emerged over the weeks following arrival of troops from both sides of the conflict. To these isolated natives the idea that an internal combustion engine would spin gears and operate pistons to spin a propeller to power a vehicle capable of carrying goods or people was inconceivable. Imagine and bringing a flashlight, cigarette lighter and .9mm pistol via time traveling helicopter to Dark Ages Europe to get any sort of grip on this.
To the natives of islands such as those of New Guinea the planes were not machines but great beasts akin to hollow metal dragons. They were summoned from the sky by rituals at a holy temple, or as we would call it, a Military Airfield. The “rituals” were the day to day operations of the base. Waiving in incoming planes with flags and lighting runways. Groups of identically clad men marching in formation, sometimes firing their bang sticks!!
members of the John Frumm Cargo Cult in New Guinea imitating American soldiers in the hopes of bringing wealth from the sky
In the wake of the Second World War these isolated bases were mostly abandoned and life, for the natives, returned to ‘normal’. But it was a ‘New Normal’. They had become accustomed to the gleaming aluminum dragons regularly summoned by the clergy (read: US Navy Sea Bees) with the sacred relics (read: radios, landing lights and parades). No longer were the great beasts from the air and sea disgorging the cargo they desired. Gone was the supply of canned goods, textiles and the giant crates that had seemed like enormous wooden eggs that birthed the coveted “cargo”.
In a turn of events still being studied by sociologists and historians, the Cargo Cults emerged. The natives formed into cults of sorts and imitated in ritualistic fashion the actions of the men who had summoned the great beats and cargo from the sky. Coconuts were fashioned into radio headsets, bamboo control towers were created. Uniformly dressed men marched in ritual manners similar to
A replica Second World War plane used in John Frum Movements rituals. Is the GOP Elephant now an equivalent Trojan Horse of Willful Blindness?
the military drills they had seen under the mistaken belief that by simply doing so they themselves would please the gods of the sky and bring down the shiny metal beasts filled with goodies. These beliefs were personified in the form of an image of an American World War 2 Sailor, frequently portrayed as African American, known as “John Frum”. Think of him as a sort of Santa-Jesus type. British occupied areas developed similar cults based on an idealized perception of Prince Phillip.
The John Frumm Movement and Prince Phillip Movement still exist today in New Guinea. Despite the fact that these places slowly became less isolated and were slowly but steadily overtaken by rational explanations of the outside world some still cling to the Cargo Cult beliefs. In the case of the Prince Phillip society egotistical detachment from reality is shared by the object of their affection. Prince Phillip perhaps unwittingly endorses the cult’s beliefs by sending gifts and autographs. This leads to the inevitable conclusion that what is really needed, by the prince and his worshipers, is some help handling a brutal but needed dose of reality. This need also applies to early 21st Century Tea party Republicans. Ritualized Reaganistic Worldview has become a meme accepted by most Republicans, albeit for the most part unknowingly.
The “gangster planet” from the original Star Trek is probably the most familiar depiction of a Cargo Cult to most Americans
where an isolated planet had been exposed to 23rd century technology by earlier space travelers. When the Enterprise arrives a generation later they find an entire culture influenced by a book the first contactor’s left behind about 1920’s gangster culture in places like Chicago and New York. By looking, dressing and acting like the gangsters they read about the natives of Sigma Iota IV were attempting to make a great leap forward by throwing themselves feet first into imitating a society that had been outlined in book that to them seemed a blue print to the “cargo” they had seen accompanying the first earthmen they met, technology and abilities that would provide for worry free prosperity.
How does this apply to early 21st century American Conservatism? The Republican Party is now packed with under qualified ideologues, who espouse an unrealistic image of a worry free past, in this case, the Go Go 1980’s.
The images of John Frum (a bastardization of “John From America”) and Prince Phillip associated with the Cargo Cults of the South Pacific have been replaced by an idealized, unrealistic image of Ronald Reagan. Like John Frumm, Ritual Reagan is a demi god who summoned “Cargo” (read: Worry free prosperity) through rituals that included sparring with the Russians, bellicose military threats and a somewhat narrow social view and an overemphasis on an extreme interpretation of “Christian” thought.
To one degree or another every single modern conservative is a member of a Reagan oriented Cargo Cult. The Cargo Cult mentality has threaded its way into every aspect of current Republican narrative.
The Cargo Cult Volcano God demands certain sacrifices be made lest it grow angry and erupt. Among other things, it demands ritual.
Repeated mawkish Ritualistic displays by Romney during the 2012 Election and other leading Republicans have so far done nothing to dispel the validity of the Cargo Cult Assertion.
A right wing politician politician in the mold of Mitt Romney seizes upon every perceived advantage and this is no exception. It’s not a difficult role in its Ritualistic Form. There’s some passing physical resemblance, both coincidental and contrived between Romney and Reagan. Among these are their hair, approximate build and hypomanic personalities. Romney seems to be smugly emitting what he seemingly thinks is a subliminal puppet show where he plays Ritualized Reagan. Pushing on the physical he layers on a veneer of the cold warrior aspect of Reagan by strapping on the coconut headphones of some sort of bamboo transmitter and sending pugilistic messages to the Russians, who are clearly not a threat to the United States in 2012. Another Ritual Reagan rain dance is over emphasizing the level of danger posed by Iran. While an outlaw nation and a sponsor of terrorism, the current sanctions and global shunning seem to be worth sticking worth for a while to most Americans who are leery of another American Ground War in an unstable part of the world.
Meals on Wheels when life can simply take on somewhat more phony dignity? Certainly feels like the part of Animal Farm where daily, coordinated displays of pride are substituted for things like food and time off to me.
The American People are the losers here. The idea we will regain moral leadership of the world when we get a new president is not exactly a foregone conclusion.
Putin at least seems to realize for now that Mutually Assured Destruction is a Reality despite frightening words to the contrary starting to slowly leak in reports from both the Kremlin and the White House.
Now consider Trump calling the Generals and the former president stupid repeatedly for broadcasting some details of their plan to destroy ISIS. He simply doesn’t understand the idea that you can cloud your opponents judgement to the point you can predict or even control his actions.
This Includes Commercials
