Mr Trump spoke today in Lynchburg, Virginia, at Liberty University's Martin Luther King Day convocation. I include a fun fifteen seconds at the beginning, of a seemingly drunk Jerry Falwell. This was a result of a failed screen capture, not Jack Daniels. The rest of the video is Pure Trump, even with the choppy capture frames ... I took a long two hours and reduced it -- but you can watch and skip and replay

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There were too many highlights of the convocation speech to mention them all, but I did note that under a Trump presidency, American retailers -- at least the department stores -- will be saying "Merry Christmas." Mr Trump said he will protect Christianity, and so I suppose this will ring a lot of bells. Me, I like Happy Holidays. Because, really, that is what it is all about for a rationalist. I gag at all the trappings of fake piety and goodness.

For those who watch these Trump appearances, as I do, tomorrow's Trump special guest event in Ames, Iowa is readied for live webcast -- set up for viewing right here in the thread: I too think he will be announcing his engagement to Dr Carson. There will be a ring, lots of pink roses, and a latina flower girl. There will be no kissing. And no official ceremony. Sometimes love is enough.

More seriously, I know Trump is appearing later that day at the John Wayne house in Ames. I hope we get to see Trump on a horse. Perhaps Dr Carson can hold his reins.

-- Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, Mr Trump delivers some enthusiastic messages about his ground game, polls, expectations, and conventional wisdom, according to the Boston Herald's Chris Cassidy:

CONCORD, N.H. -- Republican front-runner Donald Trump tried to ease questions about his campaign’s get-out-the-vote effort in key primary states today, and projected he’ll finish even stronger than the polls suggest.

“They’re waiting five, six, and seven hours, and then the pundits say, ‘Do you think you’re going to vote for him?’” Trump said of his supporters at Concord High School this afternoon. “For me, there’s a big theory … that the polls are fantastic but we’re going to do even better than the polls.”

Trump said he’s confident he’d win if the election were held now.

“I wish the election were today,” said Trump. “In some countries you can do that …. If I were president right now, I’d be calling the election right now. I’d want the election immediately.”

If America had the Westminster system, with an all-powerful executive, a Prime Minister Trump could dissolve his parliament at any time. America will never have such a system, but a man can dream, can't he?

Speaking of dreams, wishes and hopes, and fear of children, I had to check my own score on the personality dimension of Right Wing Authoritarianism. My score was 17.5%.

Your mileage may vary.

On the libertarian/authoritarian dimension of the Political Compass scale, I am tested at -5.49, as I can prove:

On a totally unrelated note, here is a neat depiction of all the emotions in a USA election campaign. I currently am feeling quite distinctly orange, which is odd for a Red.

Source: Donald Trump